A Government plan to improve heart health in Ireland will reorganise hospital services dealing with cardiac and stroke patients.
But the implementation of the new policy will not close any hospitals, the HSE has said.
Cardiovascular disease is the single largest cause of death in Ireland, accounting for one in five premature deaths in the country.
Though death rates had decreased over the past 30 years, Ireland still ranks below the EU15 average for life expectancy. And the reduction in deaths could be reversed by levels of smoking, obesity and physical inactivity.
Changing Cardiovascular Health: National Cardiovascular Health Policy 2010-2019 was launched this afternoon by Minister for Health Mary Harney.
The plan has 69 recommendations and is to be implemented over 10 years. Recommendations include improvements in health promotion and prevention of heart disease, changes in primary care services and in acute hospital services.
Hospital services will be reorganised into networks with along the lines of the reorganisation of the national cancer service. Each network will cater for half a million people and will provide specialist cardiovascular services using a combination of local general centres and regional comprehensive centres.
However, Dr Barry White, national director of quality and clinical care with the HSE, said the implementation of the programme will not result in the closure of any hospitals.
The prevention element of the plan includes a target to reduce obesity by 5 per cent by 2019, to reduce salt intake to 6g per adult per day and to reduce smoking, in particular the initiation of smoking in young people.
