26 Feb 2010

Source: Irish Times

TIM O'BRIEN

THE HIGH numbers of people who die during the winter months, particularly as a result of respiratory disease and heart failure, may decrease because of global warming, an all-Ireland conference on the health implications of climate change has been told.

The conference in the College of Physicians, Dublin, organised by the Institute of Public Health in Ireland, was told yesterday that Ireland had particularly high numbers of deaths during the winter months – largely ascribed to poor insulation in homes and fuel poverty – when compared to other European countries.