£5.4m tonic for health blackspot

With more than 100 local initiatives already in place, the Teesside Health Action Zone is targeting the Government cash at the area's biggest killers - coronary heart disease and cancers.

More than £1.3m will be spent during the next two years on tackling drugs issues, and £1.2m on trying to reduce unnecessary elderly care hospital admissions, to ease pressure on health care services.

Mental health, cancer work and heart disease issues will each receive a £424,000 share of the grant, while a further £655,000 will be spent on anti-smoking measures, including the possible free distribution of nicotine patches.

And £1,589,000 will go directly to local authority areas for specific local initiatives.

Jim Willson, manager of the Health Action Zone, says the scheme depends on public and community response - grassroots enthusiasm to tackle key health issues is growing.

He said: "For every 100 people who die in England and Wales, 220 die on Teesside. In some areas of Teesside we have the health rates experienced by England and Wales 25 years ago.

"We have this legacy of bad health - I think we are the sixth worst in the country. We must address the biggest killers, heart disease and cancers, but it is also tackling the inequalities in health."

Dr John Canning, spokes-man for the British Medical Association on Teesside, said: "It's all welcome, but I have just come from a day in surgery where three people stood out.

"One wanted to spend her funeral money on removing her cataracts, another has a family in Australia sending her money to have her cataracts done, while another lady from Middlesbrough had to be admitted to a hospital in Carlisle because that was where a bed could be found for her."

Speaking of the cash boost, he said: "All this money is welcome, but there is an underlying core problem. There is not enough core funding for people with chronic problems.

"This money is going on prevention but you have also to address the here and now as well."