health services in the district have received a £370,000 boost in the fight against the area's biggest killer - coronary heart disease.

Bradford NHS Health Authority will plough the one-year grant into five projects in a bid to cut down on the number of deaths related to heart disease in the area.

It is one of 22 health authorities nationwide that is benefiting from the Government's £10 million hand-out announced by Health Minister John Denham this week. Health authorities have also been promised further unspecified funding over the following three years.

The five schemes announced by Bradford Health Authority focus on prevention of the disease and providing greater facilities at a primary care level, reducing the pressure on hospital cardiac services.

They are:

Better co-ordinated healthier living which will focus particularly on disadvantaged areas and increasing opportunities for keeping fit

Men's Health Initiative, including Asian men's health, providing advice to men about the risks, with health drop-in sessions set away from traditional locations and times

Training a heart disease specialist nurse to diploma standard in every GP practice, who will be able to run clinics, risk assessment for patients, maintain practice and patient records and check patient satisfaction

More access to basic investigations to ensure all GP practices can refer patients quickly to local clinics for basic investigations, including 24-hour blood pressure monitoring and anti-coagulation treatment

Improving living conditions, heating and energy efficiency to reduce deaths during winter

Allan Clough, chairman of Airedale Cardiac Support Group, says: "I think it is very good that the Government, at last, has realised it needs cash to alleviate the problem."

"This is really excellent news for the district," says director of public health, Dr Dee Kyle. "Not only does Bradford need to catch up with the rest of the country, but within the district itself there are tremendous inequalities ."

"The most deprived areas of the district have levels of CHD four times higher than the more affluent parts. This funding will take us a long way towards making those levels more equal and bringing the district more in line with the rest of the country."

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.