Revealed: east-west divide in Kent life expectancy

A huge gap in life expectancy between people in a part of Thanet and in Dartford has been revealed at a county council meeting.

The council heard how there is a difference of more than 16 years between life expectancy for children in Castle ward in Dartford, where they can expect to live to be 89, and Cliftonville West in Margate, where on average they will reach only 72.4.

The figures were revealed during a debate on Kent’s public health strategy, drawn up by KCC, West Kent NHS Primary Care Trust, and Eastern and Coastal Kent NHS Primary Care Trust in liaison with the district and borough councils.

The strategy aims to reduce health inequalities, heart disease and alcohol and drug abuse, to cut the number of teenage pregnancies, improve children’s mental health and wellbeing, and increase the number of older people able to live at home with chronic disease.