A healthy nation?
Earlier today I raised an ongoing concern I have, that since 1999 the Assembly Government in all the reorganising and restructuring of the NHS has failed to take a strategic look at what’s needed to improve public health.
When you compare Wales to the rest of the UK and most of the EU we are in a poor state of health. On the big health indicators, whether its rates of cancer and survival, cardiovascular disease, coronary heart disease, obesity or diabetes, we are in a bad way. I passionately believe that unless we start tackling the causes of ill health we will be consigning generations of young people to a bleak future.
The former Health Minister and GP, Brian Gibbons, said that free prescriptions were part of improving public health. This shows the lack of ambition on the part of government supporters, the health of the nation won’t improve by tackling the symptoms of ill health, we need to tackle the causes. At present there are growing numbers of young people who are too fat and are at risk of diabetes, there are too many people binge drinking and are at risk of liver cancer, and we are seeing our country develop in a way which does not promote healthier lifestyles.
In my view the Assembly Government needs to focus on long term public health planning, we need to see the National Public Health Service having a stronger role in delivering improvements and Ministers need to take this issue seriously.
Longevity in life can never be assured, regardless of the fact that on average people are living longer. Because of our lifestyles we risk witnessing a generation of children who are unable to live as long as their parents.