The disease that is the biggest killer of men and women in the country does not get the same urgency as other health issues, the chief executive of Croi said this week, as he called for cardiovascular health to be given greater political and societal priority.
An estimated 10,000 people die in Ireland every year from cardiovascular illnesses, but many of these could be prevented if Government and society took greater action to encourage healthier lifestyles, said Neil Johnson.
In an interview with the Galway Advertiser to mark his three decades at the helm of Croi, Mr Johnson said that it is frustrating that a more proactive stance from Government and society to focus on health rather than treatment is not adopted.
“It is the biggest killer of people in the country. The majority of the issues regarding clogging of the arteries are preventable and we have all sorts of treatments for it. But there is no real political or societal prioritisation of it,” he said.
He added that often risk factors are outside the control of the general public.
“Lifestyle sometimes isn’t always just down to the choices we make. Because if we go and do our grocery shopping this evening, we will buy foods that have ingredients or substances in there that are not conducive to good cardiovascular health.”
“If we were to create a society where people were far more proactive about their health, more careful about their lifestyle; if there was a societal shift towards health, as opposed to treating disease, we would have much better outcomes,” he said.
Full interview inside on Pages 46-47
