The number of people in Scotland's poorest areas dying from heart disease has dropped by more than one-quarter but the improvement still lags behind the country as a whole.

New figures, published yesterday, revealed that between 2000 and 2006 there was a 27% decrease in the mortality rate for the condition among under-75s living in deprived communities.

Labour MSPs claimed the decrease showed that the strategies they put in place for tackling health inequalities were working.

However, despite the drive to reduce the difference in life expectancy between the rich and poor, experts said there was little evidence the decline in heart disease deaths was any greater in deprived communities than elsewhere.

In fact, across Scotland the decrease in the death rate from heart disease has been more rapid, falling by 32% between 2000 and 2006.

Liberal Democrat health spokesman Ross Finnie said: "It is good news that coronary heart disease is falling in deprived areas but, when this figure is taken alongside a nationwide decrease of around 30%, it's not so impressive. Those living in areas of deprivation are still at higher risk of dying from coronary heart disease."

Adam Redpath, programme principal at the Scottish Government's Information and Services Division (ISD), which released the data, said there were a number of reasons why heart disease had become less of a killer.

He said: "Levels of smoking are showing a consistent decline and that is one of the major risk factors. If you have a heart attack, you are more likely to survive because emergency services and emergency care is better and we have more-effective drugs to prevent people having a heart attack in the first place."

These trends have benefited people from all backgrounds. ISD figures show the chance of dying of heart disease before 65 is still more than four times higher in the poorest compared to the most affluent communities.

Professor Graham Watt, a professor in general practice at Glasgow University, said it was right to query optimism about heart disease trends among the poor. He added: "There is plenty of information coming from within the system to suggest it is under-achieving where needs are greatest. GPs in deprived areas have 30% more coronary heart disease patients and are likely to have less time for all of them.

"That would be consistent with heart disease improving more quickly in more affluent groups, which is what is happening."

The British Heart Foundation Scotland said the first real attempts to prevent patients developing life-threatening problems in poor neighbourhoods had now been launched and it was early days in terms of assessing their impact.

Ben McKendrick, policy and public affairs manager for BHF Scotland, said: "We are saying much more needs to be done but to achieve a 27% fall among very deprived groups, when some of these groups have really stubborn results, is a big achievement."

Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon also said the findings were encouraging but admitted that more needed to be done.

She said the government had focused on ensuring every mainland NHS board had a rapid-access chest pain clinic where people are cared for by a specialist team. It had also launched pilots to prevent disease in deprived areas.