Commenting on a new ONS Digital publication, ‘Causes of death over 100 years’, Janet Morrison, Chief Executive of Independent Age, the older people’s charity, said:
“It is a huge feat of medical science and public health that millions of people live longer lives and longevity continues to grow for both males and females. But where the challenges of the 20th century were to tackle communicable diseases, the reality today is very different with people living longer lives, but not necessarily always healthy and independent ones. Recent research has shown how, for all the advances in life expectancy, care needs among the older population have also grown. In many cases, health and care services are still heavily designed around the needs of people with acute conditions, when in fact they need to modernise to focus on support for people with chronic, long-term conditions such as dementia, which now looks set to be one of the leading causes of death in the oldest age groups.”