Children in the South West region are, overall, healthierthan their counterparts in other regions. However, many ofthe child deaths and much of the morbidity are potentiallyavoidable, suggesting that there is still considerable roomfor improvement.In order to understand how best these improvementscan be made, and which areas, causes and populationgroups should be prioritised, it is essential to understandvariations by age group, sex, deprivation and geography.This report has used readily available sources ofinformation to highlight some of these variations. Findingsof particular importance are:• Infant mortality rates are generally low in the regioncompared to England. Latest estimates suggest thatthe inequalities target for the South West is toughbut achievable by 2010. In addition, the region doesnot compare favourably to some of its Europeancounterparts on child health indicators, highlighting thefact that there is more to be done. If infant mortalityin the South West as a whole was at the level of thequintile with the lowest mortality, about 50 infant livescould be saved each year.• Mortality rates in children aged 1–19 are generallylower than in the first year of life, but these still exhibita steep socioeconomic gradient and a large proportionare potentially avoidable. The main causes of deathvary by age and sex, but injuries, suicides and cancersare the biggest contributors, making up over 50% of allcauses. Almost two-thirds of male deaths and half offemale deaths are classified as potentially avoidable.• There is also strong evidence of a steepsocioeconomic gradient for child morbidity in theregion.• Hospital admission rates in the South West are higherthan for England, and the causes of these admissionsvary by age, sex and deprivation. In younger children(aged 0–4) acute respiratory infections predominate,while the most common causes in children aged 5–14are injuries, especially in boys. The most commonreason for admissions in the 15–19 age group isneoplasms and accidents for boys, and abdominalpain, nausea and vomiting, and abortive pregnancy forgirls. Deliberate self-harm features among the reasonsfor emergency admission of girls of 15–19.• Generally, injuries, self-harm, abortive pregnancy andear, nose and throat (ENT) conditions contribute mostto childhood morbidity in the South West.These results show that, despite the fact that childrenin the South West are, on average, healthier than theircounterparts elsewhere in England, there are still largenumbers suffering from potentially avoidable conditions,which in some cases result in death. The majority of thesecases appear to be concentrated in the most deprivedcommunities. It is therefore paramount that decisionsand interventions focused on the health of children in theSouth West are targeted at the populations most at riskand at potentially avoidable causes
