New synthesis on excess mortality published
This excess has been defined as higher mortality in Scotland compared with elsewhere in Britain over and above that explained by socioeconomic deprivation. Previous research, for example, has shown that premature mortality in Glasgow is 30% higher than in Liverpool and Manchester, cities with similar socioeconomic profiles and histories of deindustrialisation.
The report, History, politics and vulnerability: explaining excess mortality in Scotland and Glasgow, reaffirms that the principal explanation for poor health in Glasgow and Scotland (as in other societies) relates to the well understood effects of poverty and deprivation (and related factors such as deindustrialisation). And the evidence shows that the additional, excess, levels of mortality observed among the Scottish population are best explained by a greater vulnerability to those factors, caused by a series of historical decisions and processes.
The research findings, alongside a detailed set of resultant policy recommendations aimed at national and local government, have been endorsed by a range of experts in public health and other relevant disciplines.
The report, released today, is published by the Glasgow Centre for Population Health and NHS Health Scotland, in collaboration with the University of the West of Scotland and University College London.
For more information on the report’s findings and recommendations, see our media briefing (PDF).
Download History, politics and vulnerability: explaining excess mortality in Scotland and Glasgow
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