By Steph Johnson

Last updated 12:50, Wednesday, 10 September 2008

One in five Carlisle women’s pregnancies ends with an abortion, Cumbria health bosses have revealed.

John Ashton director of public health in Cumbria

It means 289 terminations are carried out on over 18s in the city each year, 20 per cent of conceptions.

Allerdale is not far behind at 19 per cent, Copeland and Eden both have an abortion rate of 15 per cent.

Cumbria’s new director of public health Dr John Ashton included the statistics in his first annual report.

The report also highlights stark health inequalities within the county.

Those living in the Cumbria’s most deprived areas are dying 19 years younger than those in the more affluent areas. They are also at a greater risk of cancer and more likely to commit suicide.

Dr Ashton does not believe the abortion figures are particularly high, the average for England and Wales is 22 per cent.

He said: “You have to remember that one in three women will have abortions during their fertile years.”

Dr Ashton is more concerned about making sure women have access to early terminations. They carry less risk of complications and infections.

In his report Dr Ashton points out that almost one in five Cumbrian women in their 40s are childless.

In the 1940s the figure was just one in ten.

Dr Ashton stated: “Family size has collapsed as women, no longer slaves of their biology can make real choices as to how they live their lives and whether to have children at all.”

The numbers of teenage abortions do concern Dr Ashton.

Across Cumbria, 35 out of every 1,000 girls under the age of 18 falls pregnant.

Last year almost one a day had an abortion.

Dr Ashton also worries that the class divide determines which girls continue with their pregnancies.

He fears girls from traditionally working-class areas find it harder than their more affluent peers to get abortions.

He said: “Are we sure there’s equal access to termination across the county? There almost certainly isn’t, we’re trying to do something about that.”

At the same time he suspects many middle-class girls are not being allowed to make their own decisions. He believes they may be steamrollered into terminations by parents who do not want their daughters to become teenage mums.

Dr Ashton is convinced that one of the best ways to bring down the abortion rate is through talking about sex. He wants it discussed freely at home from a young age so that when children become teenagers they will feel comfortable enough to ask for advice.

Dr Ashton cannot explain why Cumbria has such a high suicide rate, about 25 per cent above than the national average.

But he wants to lower it – and introducing happiness classes at school is one of his suggestions for tackling the problem.

Dr Ashton is particularly interested in positive psychology lessons being taught in South Tyneside.

He told the News and Star: “I’m very keen.”

The number of suicides and undeterminable deaths in the county is 11.4 per 100,000 people compared to 8.6 for England.

The figures for Carlisle are even worse with 14.5 per 100,000 of the population dying in such a way.

When it comes to life expectancy, someone in Allerdale’s Moss Bay ward is looking at 71.8 years. In Eden’s Greystoke ward they can hope to get to 91.3.

Smoking, alcohol, diet, exercise and attitude to life are all blamed for the prospects of those in the poorer parts of the county.

In 2006 a third of all Cumbrian deaths were classed as premature, adding up to a loss of 23,703 years of life.

If the rest of the county enjoyed South Lakeland’s mortality rate 340 lives would be saved a year. The biggest gain would be in Carlisle where there would be 101 fewer deaths.

Dr Ashton said a number of strategies are being developed to stop geography affecting peoples lives.

He said: “Reducing health inequalities across Cumbria would help to prevent hundreds of avoidable deaths each year.

“The challenge is to make a sustainable improvement to the health of everyone in the county by levelling up to the best.”