Property News · July 27, 2013

Why Blackpool is the most unhealthy place in England


Life expectancy in the seaside town is the worst in England. Patrick Collinson examines the reasonsBloomfield is the unhealthiest district in England’s unhealthiest town, Blackpool. More than half of the local population smokes, the highest rate in the country. One in three pregnant women, even up to the point they go into hospital to give birth, are still smoking. Alcoholism is rife, while deaths from drug abuse rival those of the worst estates in London or Glasgow.Sitting in his office in Bloomfield, Blackpool’s director of public health, Dr Arif Rajpura, offers no miracle cures. More pills won’t treat Blackpool’s malaise when the diagnosis is poverty. Just up the road from his office is the local football stadium, home to Blackpool FC, whose sponsor is emblematic of the town’s economic hardship: payday lender Wonga. “It’s just wrong,” says Rajpura, whose battle plan to improve health in Blackpool is about fighting the flood of bedsits, illicit cheap cigarettes, all-night drinking, and streets given over to the payday lenders and betting shops. Continue reading…

Source : theguardian.com
Read more…Why Blackpool is the most unhealthy place in England

You may also like...