The healthiest people live in Hamburg

According to Barmer Krankenkasse, Hamburg is the healthiest federal state in Germany. At 87 percent compared to the national average, a new online tool from the cash register for Hamburg has the lowest disease burden nationwide, as Barmer state manager Susanne Klein said on Wednesday at the presentation of the "Morbidity and Social Atlas".

With 195 diseases per 1000 inhabitants, the Hanseatic city is also 24 percent below the national average for heart diseases. "Hamburg has the healthiest hearts ahead of Bremen," she said.

On the other hand, the people of Hamburg are well above average when it comes to drug and alcohol abuse. "With over 22 people per 1000 inhabitants, Hamburg has 18 percent more people affected than the national average."

The "Morbidity and Social Atlas" of the Barmer Institute for Health System Research is based on the data of Barmer-insured persons, which were then extrapolated to the total population in Germany, taking into account socio-demographic factors. The years 2018 to 2020 have been recorded so far. A continuous continuation is planned. The atlas is freely accessible to everyone on the internet.

With the help of various filters, 35 disease categories and individual diseases can be geographically separated and examined in relation to different groups of people. The atlas enables detailed statements on important diseases, shows regional differences and shows the influence of gender, age, income, education and industry on the disease burden, said Klein.

In Hamburg, for example, it can be seen that the burden of illness in the group of social welfare recipients is almost six times as high as in the group of the self-employed. The atlas clearly shows: "Social status influences people's health and life expectancy," said Klein.

People with low incomes are also particularly often affected by drug and alcohol abuse - the focus here is in the age group between 60 and 69 years; especially in men. "It is particularly worrying that among 12 to 17-year-olds, around three girls and three boys per 1,000 inhabitants were diagnosed with alcohol or drug abuse," said Klein. In this group, the girls are even more affected.