Johnson outlines plans for vascular screening programme

People aged between 40 and 74 in England are to be given free health checks to identify those at risk of vascular diseases, health secretary Alan Johnson announced today.

The government is ploughing £250m a year into the scheme, which covers the cost of the checks themselves and the NHS care likely to result from the checks once proposals are implemented.

Vascular diseases like stroke, diabetes, heart disease and kidney disease affect the lives of four million people and kill 170,000 every year, according to the department. Earlier detection could prevent 4,000 people a year from developing diabetes and detect at least 25,000 cases of diabetes or kidney disease, it claims.

Mr Johnson said: 'As we look to the future of the NHS in its 60th anniversary year, our vision is to create a modern service that meets the unique challenges of today's society. The NHS is becoming more personal and responsive to individual needs; becoming as good at prevention and keeping people healthy as it is providing care and cures.'