The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
‘Less than two per cent of us think we’ve bad health’
* Report highlights heart disease as Kerry’s biggest killer. * Over 86 per cent of us say we’re in good health.
THE biggest killer in Kerry is heart disease brought on by life-style choices, yet only 1.5 per cent of people in the county think they have bad health.
According to a new report into the health of the county the main causes of deaths in Kerry are cancer, heart disease and stroke.
The report shows that cancer causes the most deaths in the +75 age category while heart disease and stroke is the most prevalent cause of death across all age groups.
Statistics in the Compass Healthy Ireland Implementation Plan show 786 people in south Kerry or 1.3 per cent of the population believe they have bad health.
The plan, which is part of a Government initiative, to improve the overall well-being of the people of Ireland, lists a number of targets to be undertaken in the Kerry-Cork region to help improve the overall physical and mental health of the population.
According to the report the Cork Kerry Community Healthcare Network has a population of 147,707. This comprises of 46,371 in north Kerry, 43,010 in west Kerry and 58,326 in south Kerry.
The three regions, north, west and south Kerry, are not based along typically used geographical lines – such as electoral areas - but are divided according to healthcare networks with north Kerry covering Listowel and Castleisland while West Kerry includes Tralee, and south Kerry includes parts of the Beara Peninsula.
In north Kerry 786 people or 1.5 per cent of the population believe they have bad health in a survey carried out for the plan where people were asked to evaluate their own health.
In west Kerry 1.8 per cent of the population or 779 believe they have bad health and south Kerry is slightly higher at 786.
Overall 86.3 per cent of the population believe they are healthy.
The report shows that there 12.3 per cent of the population of South Kerry suffers from a disability or 7,168 people, 14.4 per cent of the population of West Kerry or 6,199 and 6,598 in North Kerry or 14.2 per cent have a disability.
The number of carers in each area are also documented in this area with 2,597 carers in south Kerry, 2,277 in north Kerry and 1,895 in west Kerry.
The demographic profiles of each area show that the majority of the population is in the 40-59 age category.
The Healthy Ireland plan also looks at various vulnerable or disadvantaged groups in Kerry including those with a disability, travellers and carers.
North Kerry has the highest number of people disadvantaged at 14,355 or 31 per cent of the population. West Kerry has 10,912 and south Kerry has 10,534.
West Kerry has the highest number of travellers at 429, followed by south Kerry at 318 and north Kerry at 213.
When it comes to mental health, which is also key focus of the plan, Kerry has a suicide rate of 15.1 per cent – higher than the national average of 9.6 per cent
An event took place in Killarney to mark the publication of COMPASS, a Healthy Ireland implementation plan for Cork and Kerry. The plan covers five years, beginning this year and running to the end of 2022.
It includes more than 180 detailed actions to improve the health and well-being not just of staff, but also the wider population.
Each of the nine Community Healthcare Organisations in the country will publish a Healthy Ireland implementation plan, and the Cork-Kerry Community Healthcare plan is the first of those plans to be published.
The Healthy Ireland plan also looks at various vulnerable groups in Kerry including travellers, carers, and those with disablities.