Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 11 Apr 2000

Vol. 517 No. 6

Written Answers. - Coronary Heart Disease.

Rory O'Hanlon

Question:

288 Dr. O'Hanlon asked the Minister for Health and Children the incidence of coronary heart disease in each country of the European Union; the steps being taken at EU level to address the problem;' and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10874/00]

Minister for Health and Children (Mr. Martin):

Comprehensive registration systems for coronary heart disease do not exist in most EU countries, including Ireland. Therefore, mortality data are used as the best proxy measure when comparing a number of countries. The mortality rates for coronary heart disease for EU countries, which are provided in the following table, show that Ireland ranks second highest.

Coronary Heart Disease: Age – Standardised Mortality Rates for EU Countries – All Ages

Country	Year of data	Rate per 100,000 of population
Austria	1998	147.2
Belgium	1994	85.7
Denmark	1996	142.0
Finland	1996	192.9
France	1997	50.4
Germany	1997	142.6
Greece	1997	90.1
Ireland*	1998	186.7
Italy	1996	84.1
Luxembourg	1997	91.6
Netherlands	1997	99.8
Portugal	1998	74.6
Spain	1996	72.7
Sweden	1996	148.8
United Kingdom	1997	162.6
EU Average	1996	113.5

Source: Health for All Database, World Health Organisation

*Provisional figures based on year of registration Source: Central Statistics Office

The EU is addressing the problem of coronary heart disease through a number of initiatives. For example, the EU health promotion, information, education and training programme supports projects that focus on lifestyle factors to promote heart health such as the promotion of health enhancing physical activityvia a European network and training in the area of nutrition to promote healthy eating habits.

One such project, the European Heart Health Initiative – EHHI – aims to strengthen co-operation and to promote effective action in order to reduce the incidence of cardiovascular disease. The EHHI promotes awareness raising amongst policy makers and health professionals of the importance of addressing cardiovascular disease and how efficiently this can be achieved. A second phase of EHHI has been proposed to the community action programme to build on the aims of phase one. This proposal is currently in suspension for the consideration of funding allocation.

Tobacco smoking is a major factor in heart disease. A proposal for a directive amending the existing EU directives on labelling and tar content is currently being debated by the Council and Parliament. I hope that it will be operational within a year. This measure will augment the existing EU directive relating to advertising and sponsorship of tobacco products which was adopted in 1998.

In July 1999, the Taoiseach launched the cardiovascular health strategy group report, "Building Healthier Hearts" which highlights that Ireland's premature death rates from coronary heart disease for men and women is twice the EU average. My Department has set, as a medium term objective, to reduce levels of premature deaths from cardiovascular disease to the EU average, at a minimum, and a long-term objective to reduce our rates to those of the best performers in the EU.

The report contains 211 recommendations designed to achieve these goals in a systematic and sustained manner over a five year period. This year £12 million has been made available to fund the implementation of "Building Healthier Hearts" and in particular, to progress areas of health promotion, primary care, pre-hospital care, hospital care and in the area of audit and evaluation.