Oldham on red alert for early-death rate

OLDHAM has one of the highest premature death rates in the country in figures published today.

The borough is ranked 139th out of 150 local authorities for deaths in under-75s. The study used data for the two years from 2009.

Public Health England’s new Longer Lives website published the results using a traffic light system — red for the worst areas to green for the best.

Oldham has the fourth highest rates behind Manchester in Greater Manchester — the city is officially the worst for premature death in the country. Salford sits at 147th, Tameside at 142 and Rochdale at 140.

Oldham has one of the highest lung disease death rates with 36 per 100,000 people, ranking them 141st out of 149 local authorities.

For liver disease Oldham came 135th out of 149; for cancer- related deaths 139th; for heart and stroke deaths 132nd.

The grim figures are part of a shocking north/south divide which shows northerners have a much greater risk of dying early than their southern counterparts.