WORCESTER is more violent and has more teenage pregnancies and hospital admissions through alcohol abuse than other parts of England, according to a key national report.

Men who live in poorer areas of Worcester also die, on average, nine years before their counterparts in wealthier areas of the city and 12 years before men in the richest parts of England.

The health profiles 2009 for the whole of England were published yesterday by the Department of Health and show that Worcester is “significantly worse” than the England average for homelessness, teenage pregnancy and alcohol abuse.

The city has a slightly higher than average level of violent crime.

Dr Richard Harling, director of public health for Worcestershire, said: “The report shows that health in Worcester is about the same as the England average and has been improving.

“However, it also confirms that the big challenge to health in the district is from lifestyles.

Ten people every month die from smoking while a quarter of adults continue to smoke. One quarter of the adult population and one in 12 children are obese and 150 adults are admitted every month to hospital with alcohol-related illnesses, more than the national average.”

The data shows that 1,718 alcohol-related hospital stays per 100,000 people (2007/08), a dramatic rise from last year’s report when there were only 342 such admissions recorded and higher than the England average of 1,473 admissions.

There were 21 incidents of violent crime per 1,000 people in the city in 2007/08, falling very slightly since last year’s report (England average 18).

There were also 47 teenage pregnancies for every 1,000 women under the age of 18 (2005-07), the same as last year’s figure (England average 41). A total of four people for every 1,000 households were classed as homeless in 2007/08, lower than the figure of five in 2005/06, but still higher than the England average of three people in 1,000 households.

The figures show the stark divide between rich and poor in Worcester, even in parts of the city which neighbour each other such as Warndon and Warndon Villages.

The Department of Health divides the city on the basis of deprivation, from most to least deprived, one for most affluent on the scale and five for the most deprived.

In the most deprived areas – places such as Warndon and Tolladine – men live to the age of about 72 years compared to 81 years in more affluent areas such as Warn-don Villages and Claines.

The difference is also between women in the poorest and richest parts of the city, although the gap is less pronounced. Women live to about 79 years of age in the poorest areas, dying five years earlier than women in the most affluent areas, who live to about 84 years.

In Worcester, about 17 per cent of its 93,700 residents are classed as deprived by the Department of Health, similar to the average for England.

However, despite the different fortunes of rich and poor, mortality continues to fall in Worcester from about 900 deaths each year in 1997 to about 700 in 2006.

Deaths from heart disease and strokes and early deaths from cancer are also falling, following national trends.

l Your Worcester News will feature statistics from Wych-avon, Malvern and other areas of the county later in the week.