News
Leicester selected for international project addressing problems of chronic
diseases
19 October 2009
Leicester has been chosen to participate in a groundbreaking
international public health research project to address chronic disease.
Spearheaded globally by the Oxford Health Alliance (OxHA), the Community
Interventions for Health (CIH) project is being carried out in Leicester by
researchers at De Montfort University (DMU).
The project will be looking at
interventions for three risk factors for chronic disease — poor diet,
tobacco use and lack of physical activity — and will be collecting data
from around 8,000 people to compare with different communities at other
international research sites (Mexico, India, China, and the USA).
An unhealthy lifestyle has a major impact on healthcare costs.
According to the Department of Health, nearly 1 in 4 adults in England
are currently obese. Overweight and obese individuals cost the NHS
approximately £4.2 billion a year to treat, and this figure is predicted
by the government to more than double by 2050. The NHS Information Centre estimates that
smoking accounted for 5.5% of total healthcare expenditure in England in
2005/06.
Chronic diseases are increasing at alarming rates in both developed
and developing countries. Internationally chronic diseases also have a
massive economic impact; the World Health Organisation predicts that in
the next 10 years, the UK, India and China will lose $33 billion, $237
billion and $558 billion, respectively, in foregone national income due
to heart disease, stroke and diabetes [1].
The £900,000 three-year research programme is funded by the OxHA, and
is unique in its scale and scope. The interventions will be tracked
across several countries and multiple settings: schools, healthcare
centres, workplaces and local communities.
Community Interventions for Health has been designed to
further scientific knowledge about the effectiveness of community
interventions to reduce the prevalence of chronic diseases. Research
methods include working with local agencies, neighbourhoods, schools,
workplaces and health centres to develop and implement new policies and
programmes to promote and improve health.
DMU’s CIH research team is drawn from the Department of Public
Policy, Leicester Business School and the School of Nursing and
Midwifery through the University’s Health Policy Research Unit (HPRU).
The team is working together with representatives from local councils,
Government, schools, Leicester NHS, voluntary, community and business
organisations to improve health in Leicester.
In its population of approximately 300,000, Leicester has an estimated:
- 48,000 obese adults;
- 56,000 adult smokers; and
- 180,000 adults who do not achieve 30 minutes of moderate activity at
least 3 days a week.
Professor Rob Baggott, Director of the Health Policy Research Unit at
DMU, is the principal investigator of the project and leads a team of
six researchers. He said: “Leicester is an ethnically diverse city with
above average levels of chronic diseases such as lung cancer, heart
disease and diabetes. This is a highly prestigious and worthwhile project that could have
a major impact on the health of people in Leicester.”
Dr Sara Karrar, Intervention Coordinator at OxHA, added: “OxHA
believes in order to adequately address the global chronic disease
epidemic, there needs to be a network of actors from public, private and
academic settings. CIH is the action arm of OxHA and is more than a
research project. It focuses on implementing sustainable changes that
address the three risk factors of tobacco use, poor diet and lack of
physical activity in places where people live, work and play.”
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