A NEW project launching in Blaenau Gwent aims to provide a solution to the problem of narrowing the life expectancy gap between Wales’ most and least deprived areas.

The reality of the health inequalities that exist between communities in Wales is nowhere more starkly revealed than in premature death rates.

For many years, a gap has existed between the most and least deprived areas in terms of life expectancy, and though we are all living longer, that gap remains.

And it is proving a stubborn one to close. Over many years, there have been projects launched to try to get people to adopt healthier lifestyles in an attempt to improve their chances of living longer, of having more ‘healthy’ years to enjoy.

Social and economic deprivation continues to present a major challenge to the Welsh Government and to the NHS in Wales, in terms of the effect on people’s health.

Life expectancy is, by and large, lower in the most socially and economically deprived areas, and that is illustrated most shockingly in Blaenau Gwent.

The average life expectancy for men in Wales is 78.2 years, based on figures for 2010-12, but for men living in Blaenau Gwent it is just 75.7 years – one of the five lowest across England and Wales combined.

Men in Blaenau Gwent can, on average, expect to live almost four-and-a-half years less than men in neighbouring Monmouthshire.

For women, too, in Blaenau Gwent, the outlook is poor. The average life expectancy is 79.9 years – the lowest in Wales and four years on average less than for women in Monmouthshire.

The main causes for these poor figures are higher than average instances of cardiovascular diseases and many cancers, and while there remains a health legacy in terms of the effects on workers in the heavy industries of the recent past, there remains an ongoing problem caused by a combination of poor diet, smoking, not enough exercise, and too much consumption of alcohol.

In the coming months, thousands of people across Blaenau Gwent will receive a letter from Aneurin Bevan University Health Board, inviting them to attend a health check.

The checks will be available to around 9,000 people aged 40-64 years and intends to try to identify those at greatest risk of developing cardiovascular diseases during the next 10 years.

Health experts believe that by measuring people’s risk – based on blood pressure, pulse and cholesterol checks, and by gathering information about lifestyles – they can identify tomorrow’s heart attack and stroke victims today, and provide the advice and support they might require to help them adopt a healthier lifestyle and avoid those potentially fatal conditions.

The health board has received £300,000 from the Welsh Government to launch its Living Well Living Longer programme, through which the health checks will be delivered at community venues and by specially trained staff so already hard-pressed GP services will not be required to carry out the initial work.

The programme is also a flagship for work in the NHS across Wales geared toward addressing the principle of the inverse care law – that the availability of good medical care tends to vary inversely with the needs of the population served. In other words, areas where such care is needed most, tend to have less of it.

The health check will include simple questions about lifestyle and family history with regard to cardiovascular disease, and people will be offered blood pressure, pulse and cholesterol checks to assess their risk.

Age, ethnicity, height, weight and waist measurements will be among the information sought and personal reports of the results will be provided, along with steps they can take to reduce their risk.

Support and advice on changing lifestyles, such as stopping smoking, reducing alcohol intake, and taking more exercise, will be available, and those who are identified as having a potentially serious health problem that was previously undiagnosed will be referred for treatment.

Dr Gill Stephenson, director of public health with Aneurin Bevan University Health Board, said the programme can provide an invaluable bank of information about people’s health, and could potentially bring in many people who would not usually have much contact with health services, but who are at risk of developing serious illness.

“We are hoping we will demonstrate an impact within about five years,” she said, adding that the programme could also begin to make a difference to issues such as hospital admissions.

Though the programme is beginning in Blaenau Gwent, it will also target 40-64 year-olds in parts of Torfaen, Caerphilly, and Newport – areas identified as having higher than average premature death rates.

The whole programme will then be repeated, with the emphasis in phase two on identifying people’s risk of cancer.