Chronic conditions are responsible for a significant proportion of early deaths.  They reduce quality of life in many of the adults living with them, represent substantial financial costs to patients and the health and social care system, and cause a significant loss of productivity to the economy. 

Chronic conditions are responsible for a significant proportion of early deaths.  They reduce quality of life in many of the adults living with them, represent substantial financial costs to patients and the health and social care system, and cause a significant loss of productivity to the economy. 

The Institute of Public Health in Ireland (IPH) is a partner in the European project DETERMINE, building on its previous involvement in the Closing the Gap project in 2004-2006.

The Institute of Public Health in Ireland (IPH) is a partner in the European project DETERMINE, building on its previous involvement in the Closing the Gap project in 2004-2006. 

 This Annual Update on Fuel Poverty (December 2009) follows the All-Ireland Policy Paper on Fuel Poverty and Health published in 2007 and the Annual Update on Fuel Poverty (December 2008).  It details develoments on the island of Ireland in policy and research, and activities of the statutory and voluntary sector. 

Access the ROI press release here

This guidance manual explains what Health Impact Assessment (HIA) is and the stages involved in conducting it. It has been revised and updated based on the experience of HIA practitioners and includes new tools which have been developed to assist each step of the HIA process.

It aims to provide a user friendly and practical framework to guide policy-makers and practitioners in undertaking HIA. All HIA tools contained in this guidance and further information on HIA may be found at http://www.publichealth.ie/hia

Recent IPH Highlights detailed in this document include:

• Celebrating 10 years of North South working
• Tackling obesity
• Social Determinants of Health
• Health impacts of education: a review
• Linking research and policy
• Fuel poverty and health
• Building capacity
• Highlighting differences in health and wellbeing across the island

This report presents a North/South profile of physical and mental health, lifestyles and the experience of health services. It was commissioned by the Department of Health and Children and compares health and lifestyles in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland using the population surveys Slán 2007 and NIHSWS 2005.

Some of the key findings from the report show that:

The 2009 European Elections provide an opportunity to influence health at local and European Government level.  IPH has produced a short manifesto identifying 5 areas of action in public health for MEPs and political parties.