24.11.10
Extra winter deaths makes new emergency plan imperative, says Age UK
ONS figures published yesterday show 23,100 excess winter deaths of people aged 65-plus occurred in England and Wales last winter, a drop of 31 per cent from the previous year but still in line with a five-year average of 24,956.
Michelle Mitchell, Charity Director of Age UK, said: “The drop in excess winter deaths from the previous year seems to show that some progress has been made. However, it’s still unacceptable that in this day and age tens of thousands more older people die in this country every winter from the effects of the cold weather .”
Age UK is campaigning for everyone – national and local government, the private sector, charities, emergency services and the general public - to work together to ensure that vulnerable people are protected from the effects of cold weather. The emergency plan needs to mobilise all the resources available to prevent as many deaths and as much of the illness as possible.
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