James Whale Blog - April 2008
9 April 2008
I was delighted to hear the news that people aged between 40 and 74 in England are to be given free health screening in a bid to identify those at risk of the vascular diseases which kill up to 170,000 people a year.
The conditions include stroke, diabetes, heart disease. For us, the fantastic news is that kidney disease is also included. These diseases affect the lives of 4.1 million people and account for a fifth of all hospital admissions. This push for earlier detection could save thousands of lives, a goal we have been working to highlight here at The Fund. Alan Johnson, the health secretary, has finally admitted that; "The case for a national program of vascular checks is compelling." Thank you Mr Johnson.
We can all look forward to the initiative coming online in the 2009-2010 financial year. Although tragically there are some for whom this will simply be too late, we can take comfort in the knowledge that we are moving out of those draconian times into a more hopeful future. Three million people a year will be checked and then called back every five years.
The cost is likely to be around £250 million a year, small fry when you think of the lives it will save. With the benefits of a healthier UK, this far outweighs costs.
This all begs me to ask the question, what will they do with all those newly discovered with disease? Does this mean the Government is prepared to fund treatment properly? No more Post Code lottery’s for sufferers? I do hope that everything is dealt with in a fair and level way. There is talking about giving lifestyle advice to those most at risk. No brainer things like telling the man who smokes 40 cigarettes a day to give up, or sending the obese woman to Slimming World.... They need to take more action than that; they have to attack the root of the problems But, just like any weed that ravages your garden consuming and killing everything in its path; it’s trying to find the root which is the true problem.
Together we can do that through research, funding the training of oncologists and the supply of decent, dignified and sympathetic care at all stages of the illness.
Good health to you all.
James Whale
