Vol. 554 No. 5
946 Mr. F. McGrath asked the Minister for Health and Children if he will support the 200,000 people with diabetes here by implementing the action plan for implementation of the St. Vincent declaration diabetes care; and his plans to commence this excellent document. [15600/02]
Following receipt of the report, Diabetes: Securing the Future earlier this year, a meeting was arranged between officials of my Department and the Diabetes Federation of Ireland. That meeting took place on 22 May 2002 at which the report was discussed. The Diabetes Federation of Ireland was informed that the report would be considered in the context of the current health strategy Quality and Fairness – A Health System for You and within the limits of available funding.
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.
A sum of €45 million has been allocated to the strategy since its launch. To date almost 800 new posts have been being created to support and implement the strategy. Four out of five of these are professional staff and include: smoking cessation officers, nutritionists, physical activity co-ordinators, public health nurses, cardiac nursing staff, cardiac rehabilitation co-ordinators, physiotherapists and occupational therapists, resuscitation training officers, cardiac technicians and research and information officers.
