REMARKS BY PRESIDENT MCALEESE AT THE LAUNCH OF THE IRISH HEART FOUNDATION’S HEARTSAFE COMMUNITY PROG
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT MCALEESE AT THE LAUNCH OF THE IRISH HEART FOUNDATION’S HEARTSAFE COMMUNITY PROGRAMME, BALLSBRIDGE
Dia dhíbh a cháirde go léir ar maidin. Tá an-áthas orm bheith anseo libh ar an ócáid speisialta seo.
It is good to be here on this special occasion in the calendar of the Irish Heart Foundation, a day made even more significant by the launch of the Heartsafe Community Programme. My thanks to Dr. William Fennell, President of the Irish Heart Foundation for his kind invitation, and to you all for your very warm welcome.
We use the heart as a metaphor for all that we hold dear in our world but maybe we don’t think of it often enough as to what it actually is, a muscle and a very important one, subject like all parts of the body to the normal wear and tear endured by the human body – particularly susceptible to abnormal wear and tear.
As patron of the Irish Heart Foundation I am very proud of all that the Foundation has done to reduce premature death and disability from heart disease and stroke. When it was founded, Ireland had one of the highest rates of cardiovascular disease in Europe and coronary heart disease in particular had reached very worrying proportions. They were a major cause of illness and premature death, particularly among active middle-aged men, presenting a formidable public health challenge not only for the medical and allied professions but for the whole community.
The Foundation has played a vitally important role in turning back that grim tide. It is a battle fought on many fronts, from promoting scientific and medical research to promoting better lifestyle choices through public health education and training. You have taken the message of prevention to schools, workplaces, communities and to the media, and the evidence is in that people have begun to listen and to make the changes towards healthier living.
In the four decades since the inauguration of the Foundation, we have seen a decline in the number of deaths from coronary disease and an increase in lifespan. Increased investment in the Health Services is playing a very significant role in this downward trend but, for all the good news, it remains the case that cardiovascular disease is still Ireland’s biggest killer. Eleven thousand people die from it here every year.
More than half of these deaths are from sudden cardiac arrest. The problem is compounded by the fact that heart attacks in Ireland usually occur outside of hospitals, away from advanced medical assistance, often in the company of loved ones with little, if any, knowledge of how to offer assistance. And the current survival rate from an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in Ireland is only 1%.
The Heartsafe Community Programme aims at encouraging all communities, towns, villages, workplaces, schools, healthcare facilities such as GP surgeries or hospitals to strengthen every link in the ‘Chain of Survival’.
In recognition of these efforts the Irish Heart Foundation will make awards to be known as ‘Heartbeats’ for each step a community takes to strengthen their Chain of Survival. They may be earned for CPR (Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation) training, having an AED (Automated External Defibrillator) Responder Programme or health promotion activities. The Foundation also provides recommendations and practical help and advice for setting up such initiatives. I would strongly encourage everyone to support the Foundation in its campaign and I am glad to say that we at Áras an Uachtaráin are doing our bit too. I have in the last year arranged for the installation of an AED at the Áras and training for the Áras staff. The interest and take-up was very encouraging and we now have 13 staff certified by the Irish Heart Foundation and American Heart Association in CPR and AED use with others eager to follow suit. My sincere thanks to Will for his generous offer to assist with this training. We all hope we never have to use it but we have the confidence of knowing that should we need it, the expertise and skill are close by.
It is hugely important for our society that the Heart Foundation continues to do its work of educating us all to respect that muscle day in and day out, to respect our bodies as the machines they are, to look after them conscientiously rather than carelessly. There is a price to be paid for that carelessness as no doubt we will hear when the National Task Force on Obesity and the Task Force on Sudden Cardiac Death both present their findings to the Tánaiste this year. The representation of the Foundation on both Task Forces will bring your considerable expertise to bear on issues that affect many people in our community and hopefully will help to chart a healthier future in which each citizen plays an active and sensible role in his or her own health.
I wish the Irish Heart Foundation every success with the Heartsafe initiative. May it reward you with reductions in premature disability and death and may you be encouraged to continue this work of care for the health of each of us as individuals and as community.
Comhghairdeas libh arís inniu. Go raibh míle maith agaibh.