West Virginians have lower life expectancies than the rest of the country, according to Perry Bryant, executive director of West Virginians for Affordable Health Care. Bryant discussed the issue at a news conference Thursday in Beckley.

“If you include both men and women, only four counties in the state have a life expectancy rate above the national average,” Bryant said. “If you look only at women, no county in the state is above the national average.”

Bryant passed out copies of a recent report that showed women in McDowell County have the 10th-lowest life expectancy in the United States.

“Women in Mingo County had the 15th-shortest lives and Logan County women had the 16th-lowest out of the 3,141 counties in the U.S.,” Bryant said.

The report showed Fayette County at 265th-lowest and Raleigh County at 724th-lowest, which are both far below the national average.

“Perhaps the most alarming is the fact that life expectancy is actually declining again, particularly for women,” Bryant said.

He said life expectancy in Logan County actually dropped by more than two-and-a-half years in a 10-year period from 1989 to 1999.

“Women in Boone County experienced an over two-year decline and McDowell, Lincoln and Wyoming counties all experienced almost a two-year decline in life expectancy,” Bryant said.

Bryant said the matter should be of urgent concern for the state, and particularly alarming for the trends it reveals among women.

“The dream that we will live longer than our parents, and that our children will have longer, more productive lives than our own, is being threatened,” he said. “Unless we take immediate action, it is a real possibility that our children will have shorter lives than our own.”

Bryant said the state’s low life expectancy rate is “a moral stain on our state and demands action.”

West Virginia has high rates of a number of health problems that can lead to life-shortening illnesses like heart disease, lung cancer and Type 2 diabetes, according to The Associated Press.

Bryant said his group is committed to finding the resources necessary to improve the health status of those living in the state, particularly in southern West Virginia.

“Access to quality health care is a goal for all Americans,” he said. “Yet there are striking disparities in access to quality medical systems that are challenged by geographic and socio-economic conditions, as well as racial, ethnic and gender differences.”

Bryant thinks many areas of the state lack in what it takes to raise life expectancy rates.

“This issue will not be solved overnight,” he said. “It will take the active involvement of all churches, the governor, the Legislature, coalfield residents and our schools. We need to find out more about the factors behind this shortened life expectancy and work together to address public health issues, such as access to safe drinking water, proper sewage treatment, obesity and tobacco usage.”

Annette Shumate, director of the McDowell County office of Catholic Charities of West Virginia, says she doesn’t think most McDowell County women know they have one of the lowest life expectancy rates in the nation.

“This is why we are getting involved,” she said. “We must get the word out about these alarming facts.”

The full report, “Early Deaths,” can be read on the WVAHC Web site at www.wvahc.org.

— E-mail: fpace@register-herald.com