This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Deacon wages war on ill health
23/03/2000
The biggest ever investment in health improvement and public health in Scotland was announced by Scottish Health Minister Susan Deacon today.
Ms Deacon vowed to "wage war on ill health" by ploughing an extra £26 million into public health from yesterday's budget announcement of extra tobacco taxes.
The Minister said:
"An effective health policy is not just one that gets better at treating more sick people in hospital. It is one that gets better at enabling more people to stay well and to stay out of hospital.
"Investment in health is about much more than hospital beds and bricks and mortar. It is about prevention as well as cure. Scotland ranks high on the European league tables of ill health and compares poorly with other parts of the UK. Too many people suffer poor health, too many people die young. Unless we improve Scotland's health record our national resources will be forever under pressure to treat more and more sick people.
"We will invest£26 million from extra tobacco taxes into the largest programme of health improvement and public health in Scotland's history. The biggest ever springboard to do what needs to be done in Scotland and to wage war on ill health among our people.
"This will include:
- the creation of a Health Promotion Fund to help meet our targets for better health
- stepping up our anti-smoking measures
- extending screening into new areas of disease and across wider age groups
- stepping up vaccination programmes to protect the vulnerable and prevent the spread of illness
- a new National Strategy Group to drive forward our work on public health
- a new Public Health Institute to provide a new focus on public health research
"Our work will place particular emphasis on our children and young people. The evidence is overwhelming that if we can give babies and children a healthy start life this will provide them with the foundation for good health throughout their life."
Ms Deacon also promised that a substantial part of the extra £300 million which the Scottish Executive will receive in the coming year as a result of the Budget will be invested in the NHS in Scotland.
"The Scottish Cabinet will meet next week to discuss how this major spending boost can best be matched to our policy priorities. But we will direct substantial extra investment to the NHS in Scotland - over and above the additional money we have already committed.
"But let me stress that we will not only spend more, we will spend better. The additional money must be linked to real change which will deliver real benefits to patients."
News Release: SE0805/2000
23 Mar 2000