Healthy Ireland, a new government framework for action to improve the health and wellbeing of people living in Ireland over the coming generation was launched today (28 March 2013). Healthy Irelandsets out a wide framework of actions that will be undertaken by Government Departments, public sector organisations, businesses, communities and individuals to improve health and wellbeing and reduce the risks posed to future generations.
Healthy Irelandhas been developed in response to rising levels of chronic illness, lifestyle trends that threaten health and persistent health inequalities. Healthy Ireland is based on evidence and experience from around the world which shows that to create positive change in population health and wellbeing, a whole of government approach and the involvement of local communities as well as all of society is required.
An Taoiseach, Enda Kenny TD, stated "In Ireland, our health really is our wealth. Just as we are working to get our economy back in the best possible shape, through Healthy Ireland we're working to get our people into the best shape too – physically, emotionally and psychologically. With Healthy Ireland, we get to work together - government, families, employers, community groups - to improve the health and wellbeing of our people and create a better future for the generations to come after us."
The Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Phil Hogan TD, commented that “Healthy Ireland acknowledges the positive role of local authorities in protecting and promoting the health of local communities. All our local authorities will play their part in this framework, providing strong leadership at community level for the shared goals of improving people’s health and wellbeing.’
The Minister for Education and Skills, Ruairí Quinn TD, said “Our experience in Education is that the different parts of the system must interact when it comes to highlighting important policy issues that affect our children and young people. Healthy Ireland will bring further impetus to the existing programmes and strategies in place right across the education sector to improve the health of our young people, their teachers and families. We look forward to progressing education actions with other Government Departments and wider partners as part of implementing Healthy Ireland".
The Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Frances Fitzgerald TD, added ‘I am concerned about the increasing prevalence of obesity among children and the associated link to chronic disease in later life: over ¼ of 9 year olds have a body mass index (BMI) outside the healthy range. My Department will be working proactively with the Department of Health and other government departments to deliver a cross-sectoral response to all issues that define our children’s futures’.
Healthy Ireland lists 64 broad inter-sectoral actions, with initial partners including Government Departments, statutory agencies, civil society organisations, the community and voluntary sector, the private sector, employee representative organisations, HSE Directorates, the Health Research Board, the Institute of Public Health and relevant academic expertise. Healthy Ireland will work to refocus and redirect existing resources to enable effective co-operation between all of these partners so that more can be achieved within existing budgets.
Source: Department of Health
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