Women and men in West Dunbartonshire face bleaker futures than those in most other areas of Scotland.
Life expectancy figures were published by National Records of Scotland last week showing the average age people here can expect to live until has fallen.
Men in West Dunbartonshire have a life expectancy of just over 74 years, with only Glasgow and Dundee charting earlier projected deaths.
And for women locally, they can expect to live until they are almost 79, with just Glasgow and Inverclyde giving more grim outlooks.
The figures have been branded as “shocking” by Dumbarton MSP Jackie Baillie who is calling on the authorities to take action to stop people dying before their time purely because of where they live.
She told the Lennox Herald: “The latest life expectancy figures for West Dunbartonshire are shocking and cause for serious concern. This is the second fall in life expectancy in the past few years and frankly it is disgraceful that, in 2021, in a country as wealthy as Scotland, such deep health inequalities should still exist.
“The Scottish and UK Governments must work alongside West Dunbartonshire Council and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde to properly tackle the underlying causes, such as poverty. Nobody should be left at a disadvantage, or be allowed to die early, simply because of where they are from.”
In comparison, East Renfrewshire has the highest life expectancy for women at 84. And in Shetland, men can expect to live until they are over 80 and a half according to the latest stats.
In Glasgow life expectancy for women is just over 78 and men, just over 73. These figures are the worst in Scotland.
In West Dunbartonshire, figures from 2015 to 2017 showed women locally had a life expectancy of just over 79 and 75 for men, a better outlook than the latest publication.
The pandemic has been blamed for the decrease.
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “This report shows that Covid-19 deaths accounted for the vast majority of the fall in life expectancy for both males and females and we express our deepest sympathies to everyone who has lost a loved one as a result of the pandemic.
“There is no doubt Covid-19 has impacted some groups more than others – it is an unwelcome reality that communities experience health, quality of life and life expectancy differently across our society and our Programme for Government includes commitments to improve life expectancy and to tackle health inequalities.”
However the spokesperson says that recovery will be focused on addressing health inequalities.
They went on: “We are committed to ending poverty, increasing equitable access to fair employment, education and training, and improving our physical and social environments.
“This work is supported by our investment in measures such as affordable housing, free prescriptions, free personal care and providing free school meals.
“We are continuing our work to improve life expectancy across Scotland by implementing our bold package of measures to tackle key issues such as smoking, obesity, inactivity and alcohol and drugs misuse.”
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