City heart disease risk revealed

Smoking and obesity contribute to heart disease

New figures on heart disease indicate a stark divide between the number of sufferers in Glasgow and Edinburgh.

The Scottish Executive figures show that, despite improvement across the country, the three areas suffering most coronary heart disease were in Glasgow.

However, the three lowest figures for Scotland were all in the Scottish capital.

Health experts said the figures simply highlighted the link between poverty and ill health.

The executive has earmarked £30m over two years to tackle the problem.

But Health Minister Andy Kerr said smoking and obesity were still contributing to too many premature deaths.

Much has been achieved in recent years, yet health inequalities continue to grow Lewis Macdonald Deputy Health Minister

The figures showed that if you lived in Shettleston, you were twice as likely to suffer from heart disease as in the more prosperous areas of Edinburgh. And Springburn and Baillieston were close behind.

Mr Kerr's deputy, Lewis Macdonald, has said that more has to be done to close the health gap between rich and poor in Scotland.

He promised that ministers would be pressing health professionals to boost services for patients in the most deprived areas.

"Much has of course been achieved in recent years, yet health inequalities continue to grow in Scotland and the UK and across Europe and beyond," he said.

'Unhealthy lifestyles'

"We believe that we are on the right track but we do not expect instant success and we believe that it will be a generation or more before the benefits of some of today's policies will be seen."

Mr Macdonald added: "Those who are already affluent and often relatively healthy are well placed to hear and act on health improvement messages.

"Those living in relative poverty, already struggling with health and other disadvantages, are not.

Our health record in some parts of Scotland is simply not good enough Shona Robison SNP health spokeswoman

"We need to continue to tackle the life circumstances and disadvantages which are so strongly associated with unhealthy lifestyles."

Scottish National Party health spokeswoman Shona Robison said a national strategy was needed to tackle health inequalities.

"It is utterly unacceptable that in the 21st Century many Scots are consigned to ill health due to the underlying problems of poverty," she said.

"We are a wealthy country with enormous potential, but our health record in some parts of Scotland is simply not good enough."