Life expectancy is at the highest level ever, deaths from cancer,
heart disease and stroke are falling, and infant mortality is at its
lowest level ever according to the Health Profile of England 2007,
published by the Department of Health.

This year's Health Profile shows ongoing improvements such as:

* Increasing life expectancy, now at its highest ever level

* Mortality rates from cancers and circulatory diseases are declining

* Infant mortality has reduced and is now at its lowest ever level

* The number of people smoking is decreasing and the number of
smoking attributable deaths is decreasing

* The quality of housing stock, an important health determinant, is
improving

The Profile contains international comparisons and compares the
health of England to that of the European Union:

* Early death from the two biggest killers, circulatory disease and
cancer are reducing faster in England than the average for the EU

* Deaths from motor vehicle traffic accidents in the UK are amongst
the lowest in the EU

Whilst the statistics show that there has been ongoing improvement in
many aspects of the nation's health, the Health Profile also shows
that there are some issues where progress is slow. Regional health
inequalities still exist, and rates of obesity, diabetes and alcohol
related hospital admissions are rising.

In comparison to the EU - 15, the prevalence of obesity in England is
the highest. Deaths from chronic liver disease and cirrhosis have
risen markedly, and England has risen above the EU-15 average.
Despite declining teenage pregnancy rates, the UK also has the
highest proportion of births to under 20s compared to other Western
European countries.

Public Health Minister, Dawn Primarolo, said:

"This report shows that mortality rates from cancers, circulatory
diseases and suicides are declining. Infant mortality has reduced and
is now at its lowest ever level.

"But there is still a lot to do in tackling health inequalities. To
address this we have already announced major improvements to GP
services across the country - greater flexibility in opening times,
and over 100 new GP practices in the 25% of PCTs with the poorest
provision

"Whilst we have made good progress in stopping people smoking, I am
determined to move further and faster to respond to all these
challenges - with a cross government drive to tackle obesity, improve
diet and activity levels and promote safe and sensible drinking."

"This country is already regarded as leading the way in key elements
in the fight to tackle obesity, for example our approach on food
labelling, restricting advertising to children and evidence collected
through the foresight report.

"With new resources from the CSR we are planning a long-term, cross
government drive for action on obesity. Our ambition is to reverse
the rising tide of obesity and overweight in the population, by
enabling everyone to achieve and maintain a healthy weight.  Our
initial focus will be on children: By 2020, we aim to reduce the
proportion of overweight and obese children to 2000 levels.

This June we launched the Safe. Sensible. Social - the next steps in
the National Alcohol Strategy. We have already cut alcohol violence
and disorder and put in place: a new public information campaign to
promote sensible drinking; an independent review of alcohol pricing
and promotion; toughened enforcement of underage sales by retailers;
and are planning to introduce more help for people who want to drink
less.

Smoking is the single biggest cause of health inequality. We have
introduced a comprehensive ban on tobacco advertising, introduced
smokefree in public places, and only this month raised the age of
sale of tobacco products from 16-18 years. In 2008, hard hitting
picture warnings will be required on all tobacco products produced
for the UK market from 1 October 2008.

And commenting on the international comparison, Public Health
Minister, Dawn Primarolo, said:

"We are improving much faster in areas such as circulatory disease
and cancer than the European average and delivering better treatment
to more people than ever before, saving thousands of lives.

"But we know there is much more to do. Lord Darzi's review of the NHS
sets out a vision for a world class health service that is safer,
personalised, fairer and more effective.

"The second stage of the review will see 72 clinical champions lead
taskforces across the country. They will recommend how to further
improve healthcare in their local areas based on clinical evidence,
best practice and the views of staff and patients."