A HARD-HITTING new report reveals the many areas where the health of Bradfordians is below average.

Infant deaths, heart disease and low life expectancy are just some of the areas where the district performs significantly worse than average, it shows.

There are 157 ways that public health is measured across England - and Bradford fares worse than the national average in 69 of them.

It is about average in 63 areas and only above average on 25 measures - just 16 per cent.

The report looks into what is being done in each of the areas where performances are below-par, setting out what health bosses are doing about it.

Measures include new specialist services being commissioned to tackle issues like smoking in pregnancy, and closer working between different health organisations.

The report will be discussed at a meeting of the health and social care overview and scrutiny committee on Thursday .

Anita Parkin, director of public health for Bradford Council, said real progress was being made in many areas.

She said: "Bradford’s public health department is focussed on reducing health inequalities and on securing a better quality of life and better health for the people of the district.

"The district has seen sustained, long-term success in reducing inequalities in important aspects of health and wellbeing, in spite of the complicated nature of these issues.

"However, there is still much work to do in reducing health inequalities across the district and to make sure everybody’s opportunities for having better health are increased.

"The purpose of the report is to focus exclusively on topics where public health indicators are performing unfavourably when compared with national or regional figures.

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"This can disguise certain issues. For example, there have been huge improvements in infant mortality rates, and a huge reduction in inequalities between the most and least deprived parts of the district.

"This report also demonstrates that, since the public health department has been brought under local authority control, more effective partnerships have developed within the council, the NHS and with other health partners.

"Looking forward as a department, we are looking at new ways of working as part of the Council’s New Deal to help deliver better health and better lives to the people of the district."