THE generally poor health of people living in the North-East has been a problem for a long time.

Today's Audit Commission report makes grim reading. In 12 of the 16 areas covered, primary care trusts in the region have health statistics that place them among the worst in England.

Rates for sickness and disability are twice the national average and the smoking mortality rates are among the highest in England. There is also a high prevalence of obesity, increasing sexual health infection rates and serious alcohol and substance misuse issues.

The barriers preventing doctors from improving this dire situation are funding and resources, lifestyle and attitudes, poverty deprivation and income, geography, and transport.

The report found that partnerships between organisations are helping to close the health gap - but not nearly quickly enough.

That is why we welcome the radical 25-year blueprint unveiled by Dr Stephen Singleton, the regional director of public health, this morning.

If the aspirations of our health professionals are to be successful, the time has undoubtedly come for a drastic, new, all-encompassing approach.

Only last month a study into who lives the longest and healthiest across England and Wales revealed a North-South divide of up to 30 years.

Research carried out by the Office for National Statistics measured the age people can expect to reach before illness strikes. People who live in Didcot, in Oxfordshire, averaged 86 years of good health, while in Middlehaven, Middlesbrough, the figure was only 54.9 years.

In a country that boasts the world's fourth richest economy, that is totally unacceptable.

Dr Singleton is right when he says: "Anything is possible if we show ambition." And what better ambition could there possibly be than to ensure all of us live longer and healthier lives?