Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 4 Apr 2001

Vol. 534 No. 1

Written Answers. - Health Promotion.

Seymour Crawford

Ceist:

47 Mr. Crawford asked the Minister for Health and Children his views on the need for an annual health check for all citizens as part of a proactive health promotion and preventative health strategy in view of the findings of the Cork and Kerry diabetes and heart study. [9973/01]

Minister for Health and Children (Mr. Martin)

The Cork and Kerry diabetes and heart disease study investigated factors associated with the development of these diseases in samples of patients in 17 general practices. Cardiovascular disease risk factors, diabetes and related conditions were common in this population sample of men and women aged between 50 and 69 years.

Almost 4% of those studied had adult onset diabetes but one third of these were unaware of their condition. Nearly half of the group was overweight and a further one quarter was categorised as being obese. Four out of ten reported low levels of physical activity. Approximately half of the population had levels of blood pressure which would warrant further attention though less than half of these were aware of any possible blood pressure problem. Eighty per cent of those studied had levels of blood cholesterol which were above the recommended level. One in five of the sample were cigarette smokers.

The Cardiovascular Health Strategy, Building Healthier Hearts, made a number of recommendations on the prevention of heart disease and many of these are also relevant to the prevention of diabetes. In line with the priorities of the European Task Force on Prevention in Clinical Practice, a Programme of Structured Care of Patients with Cardiovascular Disease is now being developed. There is evidence that effective treatment of patients known to have heart disease can substantially reduce their risk of further heart attacks and related diseases. The sum of £2 million has been allocated in 2001 for the first phase of the programme of structured care. This will be evaluated so that future phases can learn from the experience gained in implementing this first phase.

The next priority is the identification of those at high risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes, with a view to reducing the risk of onset of these diseases in the future. The cardiovascular health strategy group did not recommend check ups for whole groups of the population. There is already a substantial volume of risk factor measurement within the health services. The strategy group recommended that this type of opportunistic assessment should continue, with a very structured approach to the management of those identified as being at high risk.

The cardiovascular health strategy also recommended primary prevention initiatives to reduce the development of risk factors in the population. Already, with the implementation of the cardiovascular health strategy there has been expansion of such initiatives throughout the country, for example, to promote healthy eating and non-smoking. These build on the ongoing health promotion programmes for healthy eating, smoking cessation and initiatives to reduce the onset of smoking among young people.

Awareness of the need to adopt a more healthy lifestyle was one of the main objectives of the first phase of the change of heart campaign in autumn 2000. In addition to the media campaign, a heart health handbook was distributed to every household in the country. The next phase of this campaign will focus on physical activity. This will encourage young people to participate in sports or other activities that they enjoy. Older people will be reminded of the benefits of remaining active, for example by going for a walk on most days of the week. The media campaign will be supported by the physical activity co-ordinators appointed by many of the health boards.

A combination of primary prevention in the general population and secondary prevention in those known to have heart disease can be expected to substantially reduce the risk of heart disease and related conditions in the coming years.