AS MANY as 30,000 people in Ireland have diabetes without being aware of it, a study has found.

A screening programme involving more than 19,000 people has shown that in excess of 2,400 individuals have either diabetes or pre-diabetes.

The prevalence of type 2 diabetes has been identified by the Institute of Public Health as one of the most serious health issues facing this country. It estimates that the number of people with the disease will reach almost 200,000 by 2015, an increase of 37 per cent from 2008.

Tackling inequality in access to treatment would lead to a fall in premature fatalities, writes Dr MUIRIS HOUSTON

“Social injustice is killing people on a grand scale” – WHO 2008

COMING AS it does early in the lifetime of a new Government, the report by the independent think tank Tasc on health inequalities is timely. With the Minister for Health committed to developing the universal healthcare model, the report’s observations on this aspect of Government policy are especially relevant.

The deaths of three older men have shown that elderly people are particularly at risk from the cold – both inside and outside the home, writes RONAN McGREEVY

THE DEATHS of Peter Irwin and Tom Connolly in Co Mayo and Donal O’Connell in Co Cork are a stark reminder of the dangers that cold weather presents for elderly people. Mr Irwin died from head injuries sustained when he slipped on an icy patch, while Mr O’Connell was a victim of suspected hypothermia after he fell in a field and Mr Connolly was found on a footpath close to his house.

TIM O'BRIEN

THE HIGH numbers of people who die during the winter months, particularly as a result of respiratory disease and heart failure, may decrease because of global warming, an all-Ireland conference on the health implications of climate change has been told.

Women still outlive men but the gap is narrowing and men can help themselves buck the statistics, writes MICHAEL KELLY .

THERE IS good and bad news for men in the recently published Central Statistics Office (CSO) report on life expectancy. The good news is that male life expectancy has increased and the gap between male and female life expectancy is narrowing.

The bad news is that we still don’t live as long as our female compatriots, and men from 11 other EU countries live longer than we do.

CARL O'BRIEN and CHARLIE TAYLOR

THE GAP in life expectancy between men and women in Ireland is narrowing. On average, women are living longer than men – 81.6 years compared with 76.8 years, latest Central Statistics Office (CSO) figures show.

However, the difference in life expectancy between men and women has narrowed over the past 20 years by about one year.

Dr Muiris Houston, Medical Correspondent

AS THE COUNTRY faces a prolonged cold spell, a specialist in geriatric medicine has warned of the health dangers of increasing “fuel poverty” among older people whose pensions have been hit by the economic recession. Meanwhile, rates of influenza infection have dropped sharply in the last week, signalling the beginning of the end of this winter’s flu outbreak.