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Cllr Izzi Seccombe, Chairman of the Local Government Association’s Community Wellbeing Board, responded to an  announcement by Public Heath England that NHS Health Checks are to include advice on dementia risk

"Dementia is not an inevitable part of ageing. Public health measures to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease have contributed to a large decline in deaths from heart disease and stroke over the past 50 years. It is now believed that what’s good for the heart is also good for the brain.

“We are therefore pleased that giving dementia advice is to be part of these health checks, which offer the opportunity to detect risk factors early.

“Councils have done a tremendous job in inviting more than 14 million eligible people to have a health check over the last five years, of which 6.8 million have taken up the free offer.

“However, if we are to continue to tackle or delay avoidable ill health, it is vital that eligible people get checked in order to increase health check uptake rates.

“To help this goal, government needs to reverse the £600 million reduction in councils’ public health budgets between 2015 and 2020.”

Notes

• The NHS Health Check is a free test offered by GPs and other healthcare professionals to adults in England, aged 40-74, every five years. It aims to help tackle the 1 in 4 premature deaths caused by cardiovascular disease. It also helps to detect and prevent early signs of life-threatening conditions, such as high blood pressure and Type 2 diabetes, with dementia now included as part of the programme.