Health: Cardiology

Lord Glentoran Excerpts

Wednesday 6th March 2013 Lords Chamber

[Earl Howe]

My Lords, as a general point, ambulance trusts are by far the best placed to understand the requirements of their local populations in terms of defibrillator distribution. However, I understand that the British Heart Foundation is looking into the need for more defibrillators in the community, so we will await that work with great interest.

[Lord Glentoran]

My Lords, can my noble friend tell us what effect in percentage terms obesity is having, particularly on the young? I read that a considerable percentage of deaths and heart problems are due to obesity. What programmes do we have running to reduce the level of obesity in the United Kingdom?

[Earl Howe]

My Lords, a variety of programmes is running, including Change4Life and the national screening programme. However, as my noble friend will be aware, the kind of sudden cardiac death mentioned in the Question is rather different from cardiovascular disease, which afflicts people in later life. We are talking in the Question about unexplained, very sudden cardiac death in the young, which we believe has little to do with lifestyles and much more to do with genetic susceptibility.

Health: Passive Smoking

Lord Glentoran Excerpts

Tuesday 30th November 2010 Lords Chamber

[Lord Alderdice]

My Lords, on the commitment of Her Majesty’s Government—

[Lord Glentoran]

My Lords, the noble Lord will know that there is a considerable—

[Noble Lords]

Order!

[Lord Glentoran]

My Lords, I wonder whether my noble friend would sit down.

[Lord Strathclyde]

My Lords, we can speak only one at a time. I suggest that my noble friend Lord Alderdice speaks first and then my noble friend Lord Glentoran.