Cardiac Society: Ireland lacks cardiologists

Ireland has the lowest number of cardiologists per head of population in the developed world, despite the fact that heart disease is the biggest killer in Ireland.

The lack of specialists is reflected in figures that show deaths from heart disease in Ireland far exceeds the European average.

Ireland has just 27 cardiologists here, which works out at seven per million people living here compared to 120 per million in Greece.

Nine new cardiologists were only appointed last year, six of them going to the Dublin area.

Seven new specialists are being promised for next year but as a stop-gap measure the Irish Cardiac Society is calling for everyone to learn CPR.

Increasing levels of obesity is one of the key factors in Ireland’s poor record on cardiac health.

With increasing numbers of people being diagnosed with diabetes and insulin resistance, doctors are warning that we could be facing a serious epidemic of heart disease and premature strokes.