Research finds Scotland is only place in developed world where early male deaths are on the rise

A crisis of premature male deaths is robbing the country of a generation of family men, shocking new statistics reveal.

Scotland is now the only country in the developed world where male mortality between the ages of 25 and 49 is on the rise, researchers say.

Other nations have seen rates plummet since 1990, but younger men in Scotland are dying in ever greater numbers through drugs, cancer and suicide.

It means a Scot matching that profile is now around three times more likely to meet an early end than his counterparts in Spain, Italy or Switzerland.

The report by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) and Germany’s Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research claims alcohol and austerity – often blamed for Scotland’s ills – are not the root of the trend.

But deaths from “external causes” – which include drugs, suicide and violence – are now sky high here compared to other western societies.

Cancer fatalities are also playing a part in the trend, especially over the last decade.

The authors, led by LSHTM epidemiologist professor David Leon, conclude: “There is now an urgent need to understand how and why… [there has been] a substantial burden of excess deaths and years of life lost”.

They add: “The central role of external causes and of drug-related causes [among men] contributing to these trends indicates that these deaths were potentially avoidable.”

Last night Annemarie Ward, chief executive of the charity Faces & Voices Of Recovery, described the study as “truly devastating” and accused the Scottish Government of “moral failure”.

© Andrew Cawley

She said: “The findings confirm what many of us on the frontlines have witnessed for years: Scotland is living through a public health catastrophe.

“And young men in their prime years are paying for it with their lives while their peers elsewhere are living longer and healthier lives.

“The researchers are clear on what’s driving this. Drug-related deaths alone explain 28% of the male mortality gap with comparable nations.

“But despair didn’t kill these men – systemic neglect did. The Scottish Government’s addiction policy is not ‘progressive’ – it is lethal and has cost thousands of lives.”

Meanwhile the Canmore Trust, a Stirlingshire-based suicide prevention charity, said there is no single reason for our high rates of self-harm.

But NHS waiting lists, poverty, the widespread use of cannabis, easy access to online porn and gambling, old-school attitudes around stoic masculinity and vitamin D deficiency likely all play a part in Scotland’s complex problem.

Chief executive Professor John Gibson said: “One in five young Scots adults will have a suicidal crisis where they consider life is not worth living. Our big push with the Scottish Government is to have prevention planning in the hands of every single secondary school pupil.”

Researchers tracked death rates for 25 to 49-year olds across the UK and 21 other high-income countries from 1990 to 2019.

That cut-off point was chosen to ensure the figures weren’t influenced by the pandemic.

Their analysis, yet to be peer reviewed, shows the UK as a whole and British women doing badly compared with other wealthy nations – but Scottish men are faring worst of all.

Since 1990, male mortality rates among those aged 25-49 have been significantly cut in the rest of Britain, the US, all major European countries plus Australia, Canada and Japan.

Most have slashed their death toll by more than 40%.

But Scotland is the only one to see a rise – up 4% from 235 per 100,000 men to 245.

Our rate is now 65% higher than the UK average, twice that of Ireland and Germany – and three times greater than the countries with the best records: Switzerland, Luxembourg and Italy.

While alcohol and heart disease mortality remain higher here than the average, they are on a similar downward trend to other nations. But there are three areas where Scotland worsened – deaths from drugs, suicide and cancer.

The study says that while austerity may have played a part, the economic downturn was a global phenomenon.

It concludes: “Our study does show that after the 2008 financial crisis the underlying long-term divergence accelerated not least because of sharp increases in mortality from drug-related causes and suicides from around 2010.”

Tam’s story

He died four weeks after his diagnosis

© Supplied

Devoted dad Tam Barker was just 47 when he died from pancreatic cancer.

The cab driver from Fife had been to a GP six times and had three visits to A&E throughout last year before his cancer was detected in November.

He died a month later.

Today, he is another statistic in the loss of young men to cancer.

To his family he was a loving and supportive dad, brother and son lost too early to an aggressive cancer. It desperately needs early detection for patients to survive.

His 12-year-old son Max is now being supported by family.

Scotland has one of the worst five-year survival rates in the world, ranking 35th of 36 countries, according to Pancreatic Cancer UK.

Tam’s sister, Isla Gear, launched a petition to persuade the UK Government to invest in more research and early diagnosis.

It has attracted more than 201,000 signatures in just five months and will be taken to 10 Downing Street soon.

“Tam said he never wanted anyone else to go through this,” she said. “I set up the petition while he was still with us on Christmas Day. He died on Boxing Day 2024, four weeks after diagnosis.

“His last wish was for the NHS to start targeted pancreatic cancer screening for everyone in the UK who has the symptoms, or is at risk of developing pancreatic cancer.”

Doctors have identified smoking, diet, alcohol consumption, being overweight or obesity, and family history as risk factors.

Currently just 3% of annual UK research spending on cancer is invested in pancreatic cancer, says the charity Pancreatic Cancer UK.