Survey: Long life awaits in Roscommon

IF YOU want to live a long, healthy life, get thee to Roscommon.

According to the latest statistics from the Institute of Public Health (IPH), Roscommon has the highest life expectancy in the Republic for men and women.

If you live in the midlands county, you can expect to live to 76.9 if you’re a man and until you’re just over 82, if you’re a woman.

Across the island, life expectancy stands at 75.6 years for men and 80.6 for women.

Leitrim men die younger than anywhere else in the Republic with the average man not living any more than 72.8 years whereas Co Limerick has the lowest life expectancy for women who aren’t expected to live after 79.3 years.

Women who are living along the western seaboard are likely to live a longer, healthier life than Irish women anywhere else in the country.

The IPH believe this could be due to “lifestyle”, “variations in behaviour patterns” or the access they may have to quality health and social care services.

Despite the billions of euro pumped into the Irish health service in the past decade, our life expectancy — particularly for women — is still lagging behind the 15 pre-2004 EU member states (EU 15). The average life expectancy across Europe is 76.8 years for men and 82.6 years for women.

Meanwhile, Louth has the highest premature death rate in the Republic, with 379.3 such deaths per 100,000 persons. This compares with an average of 324.9 per 100,000 nationally. According to the IPH, cancer, obesity and smoking are common causes of premature death.

Across the EU 15, the figure stands at 606 per 100,000.

Cancer rates are also analysed in the study which shows that Dublin has the highest rate of cancer in the Republic with 399.7 cases per 100,000 persons.

Across the whole island, Co Clare has the lowest incidence rate with 286.3 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. The report’s authors say the high incidence in the east and south could be due to uneven socio-economic circumstances, differences in diet and lifestyle, and unequal access to health and social care services.

One in four of us were admitted to hospital in 2005, says the report. The Republic’s national hospital admission rate was 24,460 admissions per 100,000 inhabitants.

Sligo had the highest admission rates in the Republic at 32,680 while Kerry has the lowest at 20,120 per 100,000.