I place considerable importance on the concept of primary health care, which is central to the World Health Organisation programme, "Health for All by the Year 2000". Primary health care is not confined to medical care and curing but also encompasses prevention, health promotion, rehabilitation and personal social services. I am continuing my efforts to develop primary and community care and to make the services more responsive to real needs. While accepting the reality of a continuing role for other levels of care. At the same time, effective planning and management arrangements are being reviewed to provide an integrated network of complementary services to meet measured health needs in the population.
I consider general practice to be a key element in meeting the Government's commitment to the reorientation of the health services towards a more efficient delivery of care at the primary care level in the community, with a consequential lessening of the demand upon acute hospital services. I have taken steps to strengthen the capacity of the general practitioner service and to forge better links with the other community based services and the hospital system.
A number of important initiatives have also taken place in the context of health promotion. Much of the premature illness and death in our society e.g. from cardiovascular disease, cancer, accidents, is linked to unhealthy behaviour and lifestyle — to such factors as smoking, alcohol abuse, unhealthy diet, stress, lack of exercise. At the beginning of 1988 the Government put in place a new Health Promotion Structure. A wide variety of health promotion projects are in train to reduce the toll of avoidable deaths and illness from accidents, alcohol, smoking, and diet, including the Kilkenny Health Project, the measles, mumps and rubella campaign, the anti-smoking campaign, the issue of an updated information booklet on AIDS and the development of a Drink Awareness for Youth Programme in co-operation with the National Youth Council.
