§ Ms. QuinTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is considering to promote preventive medicine.
§ Mrs. CurrieWe recognise the essential role that preventive medicine has to play in improving people's health. A wide range of preventive activity including vaccination and immunisation, health screening, health education, genetic counselling and medical research is already taking place.
We consider that prevention is not simply a question of medicine but of lifestyle. In the coming months we will be launching the next phase of the national heart disease prevention campaign "Look After Your Heart", and we will be playing an active part in next year's "Europe Against Cancer" initiative. Following the successful launch of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine last October we hope to achieve target uptake of 90 per cent. In June we are planning a conference on the health of elderly people entitled "The Time Of Your Life". We expect to receive advice in the first part of next year from the standing medical advisory committee on the cost-effectiveness of cholesterol screening.
Implementation of health authorities' plans for prevention will continue to be monitored through the ministerial review process to ensure they are effective, well-organised and reflect the pattern of preventable disease in the country.