Laois TDs sign up to heart and stroke campaign

TWO TDs in Laois have joined an Oireachtas Heart and Stroke group to back urgent calls for a new national cardiovascular disease (CVD) health policy.

Independent Republican Deputy Brian Stanley and Fine Gael TD Willie Aird have agreed to be advocates for the thousands of heart disease and stroke patients in their constituency.

Ten thousand lives a year are claimed by CVD, Ireland’s biggest killer, accounting for almost 30% of all mortality.

In Laois, 11,000 people live with the disease, which causes a wide range of heart conditions.

Despite the enormous toll of death and infirmity, Ireland has not had a CVD disease policy for over five years.

The new group, set up by the Irish Heart Foundation, aims to build consensus across the political spectrum to support these abandoned patients and thereby deliver huge reductions in preventable death and disability.

The Director of Advocacy with the Irish Heart Foundation Chris Macey said: “The absence of a policy framework for the prevention, detection and treatment of CVD, along with services that maximise patients’ health and wellbeing in the community, is preventing the development of lifesaving services. This is resulting in preventable death, disability and loss of quality of life on a significant scale. Cardiovascular care has been operating in a policy vacuum for the last five and a half years since the previous National Cardiovascular Health Policy expired.” 

 Mr Macey said that Ireland has the lowest number of cardiologists per capita in the EU and there is a critical need for investment in cardiac imaging, including Echocardiography, Cardiac CT, and Cardiac MRI.

“In addition, for those discharged from hospital,” said Mr Macey, “access to cardiac and stroke rehabilitation remains inadequate, they are also struggling due to the high costs associated with having a CVD condition and the widespread absence of psychological support to deal with the trauma of having a stroke, heart attack or other heart disease diagnosis.” 

 As well as the need for the fresh CVD policy, the Irish Heart Foundation is also asking the Oireachtas Heart and Stroke group to support action to increase awareness, treatment and control of high blood pressure which affects 1.5 million people in Ireland and is the biggest risk factor for heart disease and stroke. The full implementation of the National Stroke Strategy to ensure stroke survivors are admitted to dedicated stroke units, which reduce death and severe disability. Greater investment in cardiac rehabilitation programmes, which can reduce deaths from heart disease by at least a fifth, but which are understaffed and under-resourced nationwide.