Agency launches 'health and literacy' campaign

The National Adult Literacy Agency has launched a 'health and literacy' campaign to coincide with National Literacy Awareness Week.

The group said 500,000 Irish adults suffer some form of literacy difficulty and cannot avail of many health services because of the handicap.

The NALA said some illiterate adults cannot fill in health-related forms, cannot read promotional material and cannot understand instructions written on medical packaging.