State among lowest in Europe on life expectancy

Ireland has one of the worst rates of healthy life expectancy in developed countries and older Irish women have a greater incidence of ill-health than their European counterparts, according to the findings of a study to be launched today.

The report, Healthy Ageing in Ireland: Policy, Practice and Evaluation, calls for more action to improve the health and well-being of the older population.

It was commissioned by the National Council on Ageing and Older People and carried out under the direction of Dr Eamon O'Shea, of the Department of Economics in NUI, Galway.

The study found that Ireland ranked lowest among 17 European countries on life expectancy at age 65, with life expectancy for women falling behind their EU counterparts faster than men.

Irish people reaching the age of 65 can expect to live almost 16 more years, while French people can expect to live more than 19 more years. The EU average is more than 18 years and the report recommends that the major goal of a healthy ageing policy should be to reduce the gap in life expectancy between Ireland and the rest of Europe.

In a World Health Organisation ranking of healthy life expectancy for 23 developed countries, Ireland ranked second last for men (above Portugal) and last for women.

The report cites our higher-than-average rates of heart disease, lung and colon cancer, respiratory deaths and alcohol consumption and points out that poverty and deprivation for older Irish women is relatively high compared with other EU countries. The report found that many projects and services promoting healthy ageing were subject to ageism and that funding was "ad hoc, fragmented and arbitrary".

This was despite the fact that more than 70 per cent of avoidable mortality was known to be caused by lifestyle behaviours and by environmental factors.

It found that there was no uniform approach to health promotion for older people across the country and that most such units did not have health promotion officers for older people.

The study calls for a review of the compulsory retirement age and recommends a high-profile advertising campaign to combat ageism. It recommends that the Department of Health provide an annual fund of €5 million to support healthy ageing initiatives.

The report will be launched at a National Council on Ageing and Older People conference in the Burlington Hotel in Dublin today.