§ Mr. Peter BottomleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the ways in which his health targets vary from the equivalent previous targets. [28828]
§ Ms JowellThe targets we have proposed will allow us to focus on our key aims: to improve the health of the population as a whole by increasing the length of people's lives and the number of years people spend free from illness, and to improve the health of the worst off in society and to narrow the health gap.
The targets differ from those in the previous strategy because they cover different time periods, different combinations of diseases, different age groups (for cancers) and, in the case of accidents, a measure of illness and disability rather than one for mortality. While Health of the Nation targets contained a mixture of outcomes and determinants, only four national outcome targets have been proposed in Our Healthier Nation, one in each of the four priority areas. This will help to focus the strategy on improving health outcome. A wide range of actions will be needed to achieve these targets and health benefits should accordingly occur across a broad front.
Our Healthier Nation goes substantially beyond Health of the Nation, as it acknowledges the impact that social and economic factors can have on producing health inequalities, and sets out national contracts which show what action can be taken at Government, local and individual level to improve health. Built into this process is the opportunity to set local targets which will allow local areas to address their particular concerns and to tackle the health problems of those local neighbour hoods or groups which suffer more from poor health. In association with other measures identified in Our Healthier Nation this will help to address the major health inequalities which exist.
The targets proposed in Our Healthier Nation have been set to be challenging yet realistic. They were set by taking into account recent historical trends in this country, 359W international trends where available, and examination of other relevant factors—for example, the fact that progress is likely to get harder and slower to achieve as the easy challenges are overcome and the really difficult and most deep-seated problems are tackled. There are signs of this happening in other countries who are further along the progress curve than we are. In Australia, for instance, long-standing steady progress on coronary heart disease is showing signs of some slowing down. It cannot, therefore, be assumed that past trends will continue indefinitely.
The proposed targets are now the subject of consultation. A full list, along with the nearest related Health of the Nation targets, were given in reply to the hon. Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr. Hammond) on 10 February 1998, Official Report, columns 153–54.