Health written question – answered at on 16 May 2011.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health
(1) what steps he is taking to tackle preventable diseases in South Asian communities;
(2) what steps he is taking to provide information on diabetes to South Asian communities.
In the public health White Paper, “Healthy Lives, Healthy People: Our strategy for public health in England”, we announced radical reforms to how public health is managed in future. From April 2013, local authorities will be given responsibility, backed by a ring-fenced public health grant, and new freedoms, to make a major impact on improving people's health and tackling health inequalities in every community.
We remain fully committed to the NHS Health Check programme, which is aimed at everyone in England between the ages of 40-74. It is a risk assessment and risk management programme, which assesses people's risk of heart disease, stroke, kidney disease and diabetes and supports people to reduce or manage that risk through individually tailored advice. In rolling out this programme, some primary care trusts targeted high-risk groups first such as South Asian populations who are at particularly high risk of diabetes.
The recently published National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence guidance, “Preventing type 2 diabetes: population and community-level interventions in high-risk groups and the general population”, makes recommendations for the provision of culturally appropriate messages about preventing type 2 diabetes. The guidance underlines the action that we are already taking to improve public health and reduce the risk of people developing type 2 diabetes. It is for the national health service at a local level to determine the needs of their local population and to allocate resources appropriately to meet these needs.
To raise awareness of the importance of maintaining a healthy weight, the Government developed a national movement called “Change4life” to help parents make healthier food choices for their children and encourage more activity.
Yes1 person thinks so
No0 people think not
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