Health in Wales refers to the overall health of the population of

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

Public Health Wales

The

Public Health Wales Public Health Wales (PHW; ) is an NHS Trust which was established on 1 October 2009 as part of a major restructuring of the health service in Wales. It aims to protect and improve health and wellbeing and reduce health inequalities in Wales. M ...

Observatory produces annual Demography Profiles for the Welsh local health boards and has done since 2009. The Observatory is part of the Health Intelligence Division of Public Health Wales.

Health Service

As health is a devolved power, from the UK Government, it is the responsibility of the

Minister for Health and Social Services The Minister for Health and Social Services () is a cabinet position in the Welsh Government, currently held by Eluned Morgan MS. The minister is responsible for the running of the National Health Service in Wales, all aspects of public heal ...

for Wales and the

Welsh Government , image = , caption = , date_established = , country = Wales , address = , leader_title = First Minister () , appointed = First Minister approved by the Senedd, ceremonially appointed ...

, which are responsible for the running of the National Health Service in Wales, all aspects of public health and health protection in Wales, the

Food Standards Agency , type = Non-ministerial government department , nativename = , nativename_a = , nativename_r = , logo = Food Standards Agency.svg , logo_width = , logo_caption = , seal = , seal_width = , seal_caption = , picture = , picture_width = ...

in Wales, post-graduate medical education and any charges for NHS services.

Prescriptions

In 2007, Wales became the first UK country to introduce free prescriptions. to all its citizens. Children_smoking_and_drinking_in_Wales

Smoking and drinking

In April 2007, ahead of England, it became the first to ban smoking in

NHS The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...

hospitals and in 2019, the first country in the UK to ban smoking in outdoor school spaces, playgrounds and hospital grounds. January to March of 2020-21: * The smoking rate was 14% * 17% of adults drank more than the weekly guidelines * 31% of adults (16+) ate the recommended portions of five fruit or vegetables a day in 2020-21 * around 7% of adults reported following fewer than 2 healthy lifestyle behaviours Previous years shows no significant change in the proportion of adult reporting less than two healthy lifestyle behaviours between 2016-17 and 2019-20. Smoking and drinking rates for children fell significantly between 2002 and 2014, and have not changed significantly in 2018-2020. The proportion of children who followed less than two healthy lifestyle behaviours hasn’t changed for 2021 at 12%.

Exercise

32% of adults took part in sport at least three times a week during the 2019-20 period, which was the same level as the previous two years. The proportion of adults not partaking in any sport also stayed stable at 41%. Those more likely to partake in sporting activities three or more times a week included: men, younger age groups and people in employment. The latest school sports survey, which is from 2018, showed that 48% of pupils from Year 3 to Year 11 participated in sports 3 times a week, similarly to 2015. This followied a large increase innactivity from 2013 to 2015. Change in exercise levels during the pandemic varied. Study by Sport Wales showed that inequalities in sport participation increased during the covid pandemic. Older adults and adults in lower socio-economic groups were most likely to participate in sport less frequently. Children from lower socio-economic households were also less likely to participate in sport less frequently.

Mental health

The average life satisfaction has been increasing since 2011-12 up until the covid pandemic. Average anxiety levels have also slightly reduced up until this point. The most recent data collected before the onset of the covid pandemic showed a slight deterioration in life satisfaction and anxiety.

Life expectancy

Life expectancy at birth was 82.1 years for women and 78.3 years for men for the period 2018-20. Analysis using 2017 to 2019 statistics showed that the gap in the "healthy" life expectancy (measured using sloped index of inequality) was 17 years for males and 18.3 years for females and remains stable. "Healthy" life expectancy was only 61.7 years in Wales in 2020, and just 50.7 years in the most deprived communities according to BHF Cymru.

Causes of death

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

men were expected to live an average of 78.3 years and women 82.3 years in 2014 - about a year less than in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

West Wales West Wales ( cy, Gorllewin Cymru) is not clearly defined as a particular region of Wales. Some definitions of West Wales include only Pembrokeshire, Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire, which historically comprised the Welsh principality of ''Deheub ...

and the

valleys A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams ove ...

had the second-highest death rate from

respiratory disease Respiratory diseases, or lung diseases, are pathological conditions affecting the organs and tissues that make gas exchange difficult in air-breathing animals. They include conditions of the respiratory tract including the trachea, bronchi, bro ...

s of any region in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

in 2015 at 152 per 100,000 population. The number of alcohol-related deaths in Wales was 504 in 2016 8.9% more than in the previous year. There were also 271 drug poisoning deaths, involving both legal and illegal drugs, compared with 238 in 2015.

References

{{Health in Wales