Vol. 561 No. 5
239 Ms Lynch asked the Minister for Health and Children when he intends to allocate funding to the SHB to implement the plan which was first submitted to his Department in 2001 and again in 2002 to prevent, diagnose and treat diabetes in SHB region. [4967/03]
Following receipt of the report, Diabetes: Securing the Future from the Diabetes Federation of Ireland last year, a meeting took place between officials of my Department and the federation. The federation was informed that the report would be considered in the context of the current health strategy, Quality and Fairness – A Health System for You, the primary care strategy, A New Direction, and within the limits of available funding. My Department is currently examining how best diabetic services can be improved nationally.
The cardiovascular health strategy, Building Healthier Hearts, made a number of recommendations on the prevention of heart disease, many of these are also relevant to the prevention of diabetes.
The strategy recommends the expansion of primary prevention initiatives to reduce the development of risk factors, and related diseases such as diabetes, in the population. Awareness of the need to adopt a more healthy lifestyle was one of the main objectives of the first phase of the heart health campaign, Ireland needs a Change of Heart.
A combination of primary prevention in the general population and secondary prevention in those known to have heart disease, as outlined in, Building Healthier Hearts, can be expected to substantially reduce the risk of heart disease, including in patients with related conditions such as diabetes, in the coming years.
The funding allocated by Government to the health services in 2003 is designed to maintain the existing level of service in overall terms. The economic outlook for 2003 is reflected in the approach taken by the Government to spending Estimates and the budget. Of the overall level of investment in public services in 2003, some two-thirds has been allocated to the health services.
Service plans have been prepared by each health board, including the Southern Health Board, on the basis of the Letter of Determination issued by my Department. Discussions with each agency on their service plan have concluded and the focus within each agency is now on actioning the various measures proposed and on managing activity, employment and finances over the course of the year.
While the measures proposed in each case vary from agency to agency on the basis of local needs and priorities, the overall pattern is one of consolidation in 2003, following a number of years of rapid expansion and development of services.
