Health

Under the direction of the Council in this Sector, Joint Working Groups of officials of the two Departments of Health have been established and will bring forward concrete proposals for action on the following five areas:

(a)  Cancer Research (in tandem with US National Cancer Institute)

(b)  Health Promotion

(c)  High Technology Equipment

(d)  Accident and Emergency Services

(e)  Major Emergencies

The Ministers have also agreed to commission the preparation of a paper, making proposals for further developing the local collaborative projects commissioned by the Council on inter-hospital co-operation. They also commissioned the current ad hoc Regional Services Group to initiate work on researching the development of collaboration arrangements covering renal services and radiotherapy services.

The Ministers have also endorsed the establishment of Working Groups on Ambulance Services and on Emergency Planning. The Council is working closely with the all-island Institute of Public Health which was established in 1998 as a forum for taking forward public health issues on a North/South basis.

Under the programme of activity ahead in this Sector, a Joint Health Technology Group is being set up to draw up protocols for the assessment/evaluation of emerging and new technology in relation to high-technology equipment and to identify a programme of work for such evaluations.