Report reveals high life expectancy in Guernsey

The data reveals potential areas of inequality, said the States of Guernsey

Guernsey has a high total life expectancy compared with England, says a new report.

The Public Health Intelligence team's report analysed the mortality patterns and trends for Guernsey and Alderney.

Men's life expectancy in Guernsey was 81.2 in 2019/21, compared with 79.3 in England in 2018/20.

Women's life expectancy in Guernsey was 85.5, compared with 83.1 in England in the same periods.

Excess death counts for 2020 and 2021, the main years of the Covid-19 pandemic, were similar to previous years because Covid-19 deaths were much lower in Guernsey than in other jurisdictions.

The four leading causes of death in Guernsey were: cancers (31%), circulatory diseases (26%), respiratory diseases (10%) and mental and behavioural disorders (8%).

About 21% of deaths during 2019–21 were deemed "avoidable", with the top contributory causes including suicide, lung cancer and alcohol-specific deaths.

The proportion of deaths assigned an underlying cause of dementia or Alzheimer’s disease had more than doubled over the last 20 years from 4.2% to 10.0%, it said.

Head of Public Health Intelligence Jenny Cataroche said the data could "potentially identify areas of inequality that need more attention".

"One example of this is a notable difference in avoidable mortality between males and females, with males making up 62% of avoidable deaths during 2019–21, compared to females who make up 38% of avoidable deaths in that timeframe," she said.

"Knowing that this inequality exists means that further questions can be asked to explore the underlying reasons.

"[We can ask] Are men seeking treatment promptly for health issues as they arise?

"Are there barriers that are preventing men accessing healthcare when the need it?

"Is enough being done to promote screening services to men and enable the types of behaviours and activities that prevent diseases occurring in the first place?"