Ms Esther O'Shea:

The Deputy mentioned health insurance. Most heart failure patients struggle with even getting travel insurance for holidays. They travel with pre-existing conditions. Sometimes they even struggle to get mortgages because it is a pre-existing health condition. In our patient support groups, we are often asked whether we can recommend a place where someone can get travel insurance or recommend a health insurance company that will ensure someone because that person has such a complex heart issue. There could be further discussion with the insurance companies, however, I think the premium would be loaded if we decided we were all going to get health checks. For those of us living with pre-existing conditions, the insurance market is very narrow. In some cases, people have had to use insurance companies in England to get life insurance cover and mortgages.

To touch on the Armageddon scenario referred to by the Deputy, when we talk about cardio-vascular diseases, it is important to remember that there is a huge variety of cardio-vascular diseases. There are families who have been to Armageddon and survived while others have not. When we talk about cardio-vascular diseases, we must remember that there is a variety of cardio-vascular diseases and they place a significant burden on families who have either lost loved ones or are living with loved ones who are very sick. We need further education and awareness in society about heart health. It is about moving steps and tying it all together. There have been anti-smoking and anti-obesity initiatives, the sugar tax and initiatives to promote walking more often. We should bring them all together and roll out a programme in schools starting in primary school on how we keep our hearts healthy. We should start a conversation at a young age and let the children go home and make their own decisions about what they are putting in their lunchboxes because they have been taught it at school. It starts at the grass roots. Once we start talking about preventative measures together as opposed to them being having anti-smoking or anti-drinking initiatives here and there, there will be an opportunity for us to have a lifestyle approach to managing heart health.