asked the Minister for Health the steps he proposes to take to deal with the situation whereby men and women in Ireland have the lowest life expectancy at birth compared to their European counterparts except for Northern Ireland as stated in a media report (details supplied).
Written Answers. - Life Expectancy.
253.
I have seen the article to which the Deputy refers.
From the latest available figures based on mortality statistics for the years 1980 to 1982, the life expectancies for Irish men and women at birth are 70.14 years and 75.62 years respectively. It is not the case that these figures are the lowest in Europe apart from Northern Ireland. Within the EC, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Portugal all have lower life expectancies for men than Ireland, and for men and women taken together, both Scotland and Portugal fall behind Ireland as do a considerable number of non-EC European countries.
International comparisons of life expectancy data must be approached with caution. Since infancy is a time of relatively high mortality, differences in the reporting of early neo-natal deaths and in practices relating to abortion can have a significant effect on life expectancy figures. Comparisons can also be misleading due the the fact that statistics for different countries are not all based on the same base years. It is also relevant that the range in life expectancy in EC countries in particular, is relatively narrow.
The health system in Ireland is well developed, relative to our stage of econnomic development. The wide range of preventive, curing and caring services already in place is designed to address the nation's health problems. The new structure for health promotion introduced in January 1988 represents a further significant development aimed at the prevention of some of the main causes of premature mortality in Ireland, including heart disease, cancer and accidents. The new arrangements for health promotion also acknowledge the multiple factors underlying contemporary health problems and, through the Advisory Council on Health Promotion and the Committee of Ministers, facilitate a multi-sectoral approach in addressing particular health problems. These developments are in accord with the recommendations set out in the report on health promotion by the Royal College of Physicians in Ireland, which is the main subject of the article referred to by the Deputy.