The Health of Barcelona 2022 report, prepared every year by the Barcelona Public Health Agency since 1985 and presented today, highlights that the Catalan capital is gradually recovering life expectancy after the decline caused by Covid-19 and that The majority of the city’s population has good perceived health, although Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) are increasing.
“We are pleased to see that economic and health indicators are improving and are beginning to leave behind the public health crisis caused by the pandemic, although this progress shows differences depending on gender, place of residence or country of origin,” he noted during the presentation of the document by the Councilor for Health, People with Disabilities and Strategy against Loneliness, Marta Villanueva. However, she added, they have also detected negative indicators, an aspect that puts them “on alert.”
In 2022 in Barcelona, ??life expectancy for women stood at 87.5 years and for men, at 82 years, leaving behind the 2020 figures, which were 85.6 years and 80. 4 years, respectively. However, the 2019 records have not yet been reached: 88.1 in women and 82.4 in men. Dr. Carme Borrell, manager of the Barcelona Public Health Agency, has explained to La Vanguardia that they are confident (although it is only a hypothesis) in reaching the figures that were given in 2019 for the next report.
He stressed that he has been working at the Agency for many years and that he had never seen a decrease in life expectancy until Covid arrived.
Life expectancy with good health is shorter (the document states): 78.8 years in women and 74.6 in men. In this sense, the figures confirm that, although they live longer, they do so with a lower quality of life. The report also reveals territorial inequalities, which correspond to the socioeconomic pattern of the city.
On the other hand, four out of every five adults in the city declare that they are in good health, which is less common among women, people who live in districts with a less affluent socioeconomic level, and those from low-income countries.
Among the negative indicators on which the study focuses, Councilor Villanueva has highlighted the increase in STIs, especially in men.
The document warns of cases of gonorrhea and chlamydia, which practically double the pre-pandemic figures in men, while a certain stability is maintained in women. Specifically, compared to 2021, gonorrhea increased by 44% in men and chlamydia, by 49%.
Gonorrhea was the most common STI in people residing in Barcelona, ??with an incidence of 365.1 per 100,000 inhabitants, and it is mostly concentrated in men, with a rate of 677.7 (in 2021 it was just over 500). very high compared to that of women, which is 81 per 100,000 women.
The second is chlamydia, with an incidence of 329.6 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, 446.7 in men and 223.1 in women.
“From the municipal government we cannot sit idly by in the face of this reality, and that is why we have activated a campaign to raise awareness among citizens of the importance of detecting sexually transmitted diseases as soon as possible to avoid contagion and initiate the treatment,” said the councilor.
This trend in the increase in STIs was already occurring before the pandemic, explained Dr. Carme Borrell. Obviously, during Covid this increase was paused, but once the pandemic was over it has skyrocketed again. “It’s a concern,” she said. “You have to use protection in sexual relations because, otherwise, especially in cases where there are several sexual partners, there is a greater probability of transmission of these diseases.”
Another negative indicator that Councilor Villanueva highlighted in the presentation is the increase in the number of complaints of violence in childhood and adolescence – physical and/or psychological abuse – and also the number of complaints of sexist violence, especially among young women. which he has attributed to the work of raising awareness regarding this social scourge in recent years.
The study, which cites the records of the Police Directorate of the Department of the Interior of the Generalitat, indicates that in Barcelona there were 896 complaints of violence against children or adolescents in 2022, the majority (57.9%) against girls or boys. (there were 519 complaints related to girls or girls and 377 linked to boys or boys). In 2021, the total number of complaints amounted to 713 (425 and 288, respectively). The age group from 12 to 17 years old is the one with the highest rate: 925.3 per 100,000 girls and boys, 607.5 per 100,000 boys and girls (this figure was 732.9 and 429, respectively, in 2021). There were also 833 complaints of sexist violence against girls under 18 years of age in the city.
The councilor has also highlighted the impact on health of climate change and specifically the increase in temperatures, which aggravates chronic diseases and increases the risk of mortality, and also the increase in people suffering from energy poverty in summer, which, according to The report specifies, in Barcelona there are already more than in winter and they are increasing.
According to data from the Barcelona Health Survey (ESB) 2021, 13.1% of women and 11.3% of men suffered from energy poverty in summer, figures that practically double among people residing in Barcelona born in middle and low income countries, with a percentage of 24.6% in women and 20.5% in men.
2022 was the warmest year recorded in Barcelona and two heat waves were recorded, with a total duration of 12 days, an unusually high number.
