PEOPLE who live in the most deprived areas of Scotland are four-times more likely to die prematurely than those that live in the most wealthy.

The latest Long-term Monitoring of Health Inequalities report from Scotland’s chief statistician showed 20,980 people died before the age of 75 last year, lower than at any time in the past 20 years.

However, the figures show the gap between people dying from cancer, coronary heart disease and alcohol-related deaths in the least and most deprived areas has risen by 10%.

Dr Lewis Morrison, chairman of BMA Scotland, said: “These statistics should leave us in absolutely no doubt that stark and unacceptable health inequalities persist across Scotland. Finding solutions must be at the top of the political agenda and something we strive to achieve across society.”

He added: “Taking an optimistic view, important steps have already been taken such as minimum unit pricing and, looking further back, the smoking ban.

“This shows that Scotland is able to take world-leading and bold measures, and we must not take a step back from this direction of travel.”

The inequality gap for deaths involving alcohol has increased in each of the past five years but is still 30% lower than its 2002 peak.

The cancer mortality rate among those aged between 45 and 74 has fallen more than 31% since 1996 and the number of deaths each year has also reduced in this period, from approximately 8400 to 7300.

Yet, of people in that age group, those in Scotland’s most deprived areas are more than twice as likely to die of cancer than those in the least deprived areas.

There were 2068 deaths of people aged 15-44 in Scotland in 2017, down from a peak of 2566 in 2002.

The deaths in 2017 included 305 probable suicides, 581 drug-related deaths and 40 deaths from assault.

Public Health Minister Joe FitzPatrick said: “Tackling the inequalities in health that the most deprived and vulnerable in our society experience is one of the most important challenges we face as a country.

“We have made significant progress in a number of areas such as healthy birth weight, alcohol-related hospital admissions and deaths from heart disease.

“But, as today’s report shows, there remain entrenched and stubborn issues that we must address.

“That is why we are taking decisive action on matters such as alcohol, smoking, physical activity and healthy eating.

“However, health inequalities are very much a symptom of wider income inequality.

“The Scottish Government is taking action to end poverty, drive fair wages, support families, invest in affordable housing and ensure fair access to healthcare through policies such as free prescriptions, concessionary travel and free personal care. This year we will spend £125 million to mitigate the devastating impacts of the UK Government’s welfare policies on our most vulnerable people.”