More cardiologists ‘are badly needed’

AT NUMBER one in the Irish Heart Foundation’s top 10 chart for fighting cardiovascular disease is the appointment of more cardiologists.

Ireland has 12 consultant cardiologists per million people, compared with the EU average of 35 per million.

Services and strategies must be adopted to meet the changing face of cardiovascular disease, according to the national charity for heart disease and stroke.

Deaths from heart disease have been falling in recent years, but there are fears that the rise in obesity and diabetes will reverse the decline.

While mortality rates from cardiovascular disease have decreased from 54% in 1984 to 36% in 2004, the rate of decline has slowed significantly, the foundation warned when it released its top 10 chart for fighting cardiovascular disease yesterday.

Last September, the foundation held a conference to gather all interested parties, including Health Minister Mary Harney, to assess the progress made on the 1999 Cardiovascular Strategy.

The top 10 chart for fighting cardiovascular disease that included the development of stroke services nationally emerged from a series of workshops held on the day.

The foundation also points out that there is just one stroke unit in Ireland. While five hospitals have partially developed units, the situation compares dismally with stroke services in other EU countries.

At number three is the national roll-out of Heartwatch, the national secondary prevention programme aimed at reducing morbidity and mortality due to cardiovascular disease. The programme began in 2003 has the potential to prevent a high number of patients from having to return to hospital with further cardiovascular disease complications.

The federation, however, is furious that the programme, one of the most significant national prevention programmes currently running in this country, has not been moved on from its pilot phase.

Also making the top 10 chart is the development of a national heart disease registry; the development of chronic heart failure GP programmes; and the provision of heart clinic units in hospitals with chest pain units provided in all the major hospitals’ accident and emergency departments.

Foundation chief executive Michael O’Shea said the recommendations must be taken on board by both the Department of Health and the Health Service Executive to prevent and manage cardiovascular disease into the future.

The foundation has also backed the recent call made by the Diabetes Federation of Ireland for a more proactive rather than a reactive approach to the problem of diabetes.

“We are seeing increasing levels of diabetes and a real possibility of increasing levels of heart disease in the younger population. The issue of overweight and obesity in the population is not going away,” he warned.

It is also estimated that 2,000 premature deaths every year are caused by obesity and such deaths are increasing.

“These deaths are costing the taxpayer €4 billion annually,” said Mr O’Shea.