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OECD study links countries' child mortality rate with level of inequality.

DEATH RATES, Ten worst states in the OECD for mortality in children under five

• FRANCE 5.5 (deaths per 1,000)
• NETHERLANDS 5.50
• PORTUGAL 5.50
• SWITZERLAND 5.50
• AUSTRALIA 6.00
• IRELAND 6.00
• NEW ZEALAND 6.00
• CANADA 6.50
• UNITED KINGDOM 6.50
• UNITED STATES 8.00

The results show that the child mortality rate, based on the number of children dying before the age of five per 1,000 live births averaged over a four-year period, was below five in the top six countries - Sweden at 3.25, followed by Iceland (3.75) Norway (4.00) Denmark (4.25) Japan (4.50) and Finland (4.75). The bottom six were New Zealand, Australia, and Ireland (all 6.0), UK and Canada (6.5) and the US (8.0).

The researchers also calculated income inequality in each country by comparing the income share of the top 20 per cent with that of the bottom 40 per cent. The ratio was lowest in Luxembourg, Japan, Finland and Norway, where the income of the top earners 20 per cent was only 1.5 times greater than the bottom 40 per cent. But the ratio was 2.5 in the UK and 2.8 in the US."There is a very strong association between income inequality and under-five child mortality among the wealthier OECD [Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development] countries,'' said the report.

David Collison, who led the study, said: "All the Anglo-American countries do pretty badly. It is clear that inequality is linked to the poor position of the UK and elsewhere."

"The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little" Franklin Roosevelt

Eco nieuws uit de UK

Air pollution in major cities is potentially more damaging to health than being exposed to the radioactive fallout of an atomic bomb, according to a report published earlier this week.
The study suggests that high levels of urban air pollution cut life expectancy by more than the radiation exposure of emergency workers sent into the 19-mile exclusion zone around the Chernobyl disaster.
Although 30 people died immediately in the two explosions at Chernobyl and up to 16,000 deaths have been linked to the radiation plume that spread across Europe, the research found that moving from Inverness to London could have a worse effect on your health than moving to Chernobyl.

Jim Smith, a scientist at the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, who carried out the research, assessed the health risks faced by those at Chernobyl directly after the explosion and those who set up home in the exclusion zone afterwards. He compared them with air pollution, obesity and passive and active smoking.
He concluded the Chernobyl group absorbed radiation equivalent to more than the amount emitted during 1,200 chest x-rays, which was likely to cause one extra death in a hundred by increasing the risk of cancer.
The health risks associated with air pollution and passive smoking appear more severe. Pollution in central London increased mortality due to heart disease by 2.8 per cent compared with Inverness, Britain's least polluted city, while living with a smoker increases mortality by 1.7 per cent, the study found.
Writing in the journal BMC Public Health, Dr Smith said: "It is well known that radiation can potentially cause fatal cancers in people, even at relatively low doses. But our understandable fear of radiation needs to be placed in the context of other risks. The study follows a report last month from The Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution, which said air pollution was responsible for 24,000 premature deaths in Britain every year. Sir John Lawton, chairman of the commission, said the Government had consistently failed to tackle rising levels of chemicals in the atmosphere of cities. Other findings showed that women living in areas of higher pollution were at greater risk of heart disease and death, while children living within 500 metres of motorways suffered more permanent lung damage and lower life expectancy, probably because of their greater exposure to pollutants in vehicle fumes.