Britain is a country where the prospect of a cold winter mean many old men will die before they see the Spring

With the first cold weather of winter is upon Britain, with some forecaster predicting an exceptionally cold one to come, the prospects for many old men and women who will not see the Spring are bleak because :

* spiralling energy bills contributed to 24,000 deaths last winter from December to March, as many old people cut back on their heating and spiralling energy bills indicate this winter's toll will be even higher.

* figures for ‘excess winter deaths’, published yesterday by the 'Office for National Statistics', reveal that most of victims were old men and women over the age of 75.

* high energy costs and poor insulation, are known to exacerbate a number of underlying medical conditions in old men and women, leading to more deaths during the winter.

* A recent report by 'Age UK' estimated that cold homes are costing the National Health Service in England £1.36billion a year in treatments, mostly for cardiovascular diseases such as strokes and heart attacks.

* Britain experiences much higher death rates than countries in Scandinavia which have much colder winters but where there has been huge investment in insulating homes.

* Maria Wardrobe, of fuel poverty charity 'National Energy Action' said: ‘The figures demonstrate that if you are a vulnerable person living in England or Wales then even a comparatively mild winter can still be deadly.'

* Michelle Mitchell, Charity  Director General of Age UK, said : ‘Those living in the coldest homes are three times more likely to die a preventable death than those living in warmer ones.The only way to make a sustained and long-term impact on excess winter deaths is by investing in making Britain’s homes more energy-efficient.The Government must also invest in a major energy-efficiency programme to help insulate older people against the cold weather and the high cost of energy.’

 

* Dave Timms, of Friends of the Earth’s 'Warm Homes Campaign', said : ‘The Government must take action to tackle this homemade humanitarian disaster by ensuring we all have warm and energy-efficient homes.’

* Saga’s Director General, Dr Ros Altmann, said: ‘Much more needs to be done. In a survey of 8,500 over-50s, 58% were already worrying about the costs of heating their homes this winter and more than a third were already struggling with heating bills. Energy prices are already much higher than last winter and they are predicted to rise further which could leave many more older people at risk.’
I'm revisiting a subject an old subject :

Wednesday, 1 February 2012

Britain, a country where many cold, old men die in winter has the antidote in the Met Office 'Cold Weather Plan'
http://britainisnocountryforoldmen.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/britain-country-where-many-cold-old-men.html

Sunday, 5 February 2012
Britain is no country for the cold, old men who will die this week
http://britainisnocountryforoldmen.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/britain-is-no-country-for-cold-old-men.html


Thursday, 17 November 2011
Britain, no country for poor old men who can't afford to heat their homes in what might be their last winter... fear not !
http://britainisnocountryforoldmen.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/britain-no-country-for-poor-old-men-who_17.html

 

Sunday, 23 October 2011
Britain is no country for thousands of old men who will die of the cold this winter
http://britainisnocountryforoldmen.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/britain-is-country-where-thousands-of.html