Scottish Conservative MSP Jamie Halcro Johnston has called for efforts to combat heart and circulatory disease to be given greater priority in the future,
The condition affects 68,000 people across the Highlands and Islands, and the British Heart Foundation has raised concerns that, while the Scottish Government committed £117 million and £42 million to the Cancer and Diabetes strategies, only £1 million was spent on the 2014 Heart Disease Improvement Plan.
Speaking at Health Questions earlier today, the Highlands and Islands MSP challenged Public Health Minister Mairi Gougeon on why the condition had not been given a similar priority to that of cancer and diabetes.
Mr Halcro Johnston said: “This is an area in which I have raised concerns before with ministers, and I previously highlighted that patients from the Northern Isles needing heart treatment had been offered operations in Newcastle because of delays in Scotland."
“I think many people would share my surprise that there has been such massive discrepancy in the levels of funding between what has been – rightly – spent on strategies to combat cancer and diabetes, and what was spent on heart conditions. With so many people living with these conditions in the Highlands and Islands, the Scottish Government must ensure it devotes a proper level of resourcing to combatting heart and circulatory disease."
“Scotland has to up its game in tackling a condition which affects so many families and takes far too many lives far too early.”
