Health and Wealth

1. Health and Wealth Breaking news

2. Two types of postcode lottery • Bad? Post Code Prescription. Some drugs (e.g. Herceptin are available in some places but not others. • Good? In 2007 postcodes were used to target people most likely to suffer diabetes e.g. parts of Glasgow.

3. Tooth decay 2006 • Children in Scotland continue to have Europe's highest rate of tooth decay, according to research. • New NHS guidelines urge parents to get their children to start brushing their teeth as early as possible to prevent the decay of baby teeth. • A survey has shown that a quarter of Scotland's under-fives suffer 75% of the country's dental decay problems. • A third of Scottish youngsters aged between three and six years are not registered with a dentist. • Decaying baby teeth can trigger a lifetime of dental treatment.

4. In 2007 it was revealed that the teeth of Scottish children was improving. • 13% fewer primary children require fillings saving the NHS £150,000 • Various initiatives such as free toothbrushes have helped.

5. Air pollution can damage the lungs of children even before birth according the World Health Organisation. • The report says that pollutants can impair lung growth in the womb. • Drastic policies to reduce traffic or cut speed limits have produced results in some European cities. • Congestion charging, which London has introduced is a useful tool.

6. Scotland has one of the worst health reputations in western Europe, with one in four of all deaths attributable to smoking. • About 13,000 people die every year as a result of smoking - we have to tackle that. • Smoking ban 2006 but still a problem among teenage girls.

7. School meals Act 2007 (Scotland) • School dinners in Scotland will be free from chocolate, crisps, fizzy drinks and "low-quality" meats. • Nutrition guidelines ban meals high in salt and fat. • A minimum of two fruits and veg will be served. • These would undo decades of neglect and improve pupils' health. • Some schools spend only 48p per pupil. • SSP want free school lunches.

8. Elderly warnings 2007 • Reform is needed to ensure the UK copes with the burgeoning care demands of growing numbers of elderly people, an expert warns. • The over-65s are the biggest users of the NHS, and account for over 40% of the service's budget. • On any given day 65% of hospital beds are occupied by the over 65s.

9. Cancer: 2007 • Cancer 'to become bigger burden' . • Simple lifestyle and environmental changes could significantly help to cut the number of cancer deaths • Experts linked more than a third of the seven million cancer deaths worldwide in 2001 to nine potentially modifiable risk factors. • These include poor diet, smoking, alcohol, obesity, lack of exercise and air pollution.

10. FATTER CHRISTMAS • SCOTTISH Santas would be too fat to fit down the chimney, say health experts. • Research has found that Father Christmases north of the Border would be most at risk of getting stuck because of their big stomachs.

11. FATTER CHRISTMAS • In a study of the height and waistlines of Santas in shopping centres throughout the UK, it emerged that Scots were the tubbiest. • risk from diabetes and heart disease • The serious side of the Santa research is that six out of 10 Scots are overweight or obese, which is 10 per cent higher than the rest of the UK. • Just under a quarter (23 per cent) of Scots are obese, compared with one in five south of the Border. • Obesity costs the NHS in Scotland £171million every year, including £28million spent treating people who develop Type 2 diabetes. • It is second only to smoking as a cost burden on the health service.

12. Labour claims 2006 • Labour introduced the New Deal to help people move from welfare into work - over a million people have found work through it. • Over 20 million people, including ten million children, are benefiting from the new tax credits – the Child Tax Credit and the Working Tax Credit. • Reform of Housing Benefit to enable claimants to move more easily between locations, speed up administration and tackle fraud. • Disability Rights Commission (DRC) to work towards eliminating discrimination against disabled people, especially at work.

13. Labour and unemployed • Labour wants to help people move from welfare to work through the New Deal ie.getting people off benefits; making work pay, through reform of the tax and benefit system and the National Minimum Wage; and securing progression in work, through lifelong learning. • Jobcentre Plus creates a ‘one-stop-shop’ for welfare and work advice. The result is an internationally renowned public employment service, being used as a model by other countries. • They have introduced a range of policies to protect people from discrimination on the grounds of disability, to help more disabled people to find and stay in work and to support those whose disabilities mean they are unable to work.

14. Labours achievements? • New Deal: has helped over 296,000 lone parents into work. The lone parent employment rate has increased by nine per cent since 1997. • Disabled people: We have outlawed disability discrimination, established the Disability Rights Commission. There are three quarters of a million more in work than in 1998. The Working Tax Credit delivers extra help for disabled workers, reducing stigma by creating a single system for topping-up wage packets. And from October 2004 the Disability Discrimination Act was extended to cover a further seven million jobs and 600,000 disabled workers. • Tackling fraud: For the very first time we have set measurable targets to reduce fraud, and have cut fraud in Income Support and Jobseekers Allowance by 39 per cent. We are taking positive action to reduce fraud by making it harder to commit, supporting customers by getting their claims right first time and improving detection of fraud. We are implementing the Fraud Act 2001, which provides powers to improve fraud investigation and punish persistent offenders more severely.

15. Labour has still to … • There are still many people who are sick or disabled and who would like to work but do not have the opportunity to do so. • Ethnic minority unemployment is still an issue. They need to make further progress in narrowing the gap between the ethnic employment rate and the overall rate. • Deprived areas need help. Labour has set up Working neighbourhoods programme of intensive support in 12 neighbourhoods with very high concentrations of worklessness.

16. Labour criticises Cons. approach • Forward not back • The Tories are committed to a cut of £35 billion to public services that would limit opportunity for those out of work. They would scrap the New Deal and return Britain to levels of mass unemployment last seen when the Tories were in office. • Devolution statement • Some issues affecting welfare reform are devolved matters for Scotland and Wales, some are UK-wide issues reserved for Westminster.March 2005

17. 2007 - 8 • 300,000 people in Scotland are on invalidity benefit. The Scottish Govt. is hiring an American firm to investigate cases to reduce this number. • 6000 Scottish women per year contract cancer because of obesity. (Mostly womb and breast cancer)