Many thousands of people across Ireland today are unaware that they have, or are at risk of developing, a life-threatening chronic disease. Thousands more of those diagnosed are poorly managing their conditions on an ongoing basis.
A new website, chronic-disease.ie, launched today, aims to significantly increase awareness, promote understanding and encourage a proactive approach to chronic disease among the general public, health practitioners, policy-makers and other interested parties. The site covers the signs and symptoms, causes, consequences, costs, and best management practices regarding chronic diseases such as Diabetes, Asthma, COPD and Atrial Fibrillation.

Launching the site, Chair of the Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children, Jerry Buttimer TD, issued a call to action for people to empower themselves by using the site and gaining a greater understanding and awareness of chronic diseases. The new site aims to mobilise people to take action and understand the importance of a proactive approach to early diagnosis and disease management at individual, healthcare provision and health policy levels.

Speaking at the launch, Deputy Buttimer said “The chronic-disease.ie website fills an information deficit that exists around some of the most common chronic diseases in Ireland. In addition to providing the ‘national picture’ on chronic disease, what is, for me, particularly valuable on the site is the local and regional breakdown of statistics. Every county in Ireland is profiled in great detail, meaning that this site serves as a ‘one-stop-shop’ for citizens, public representatives and anyone with an interest in health. I believe that, as a nation, we urgently need to better appreciate the nature and scale of chronic disease in Ireland in order to fittingly address what is an increasingly prevalent problem.”

Commenting on the new website, Colin Edwards, Managing Director of Boehringer Ingelheim Ireland Limited, which developed the site in conjunction with chronic disease patient groups, added; “Chronic diseases are those long-term conditions which can be treated and controlled but not cured. Public awareness in Ireland about chronic diseases unfortunately falls well short of where it should and could be. A greater understanding of the human and financial cost of preventable chronic disease can deliver multiple benefits to individuals and society at large.

This site aims to prominently position chronic disease in the public conscience and help reduce avoidable costs arising from non or late diagnosis or mismanagement.” The mobile-friendly site is now live at chronic-disease.ie.

ENDS

For further information contact:
Carl Gibney / Sarah McDonagh
[email protected] / [email protected]
086 0459555 / 086 7780301

Note to Editors

About Boehringer Ingelheim:
The Boehringer Ingelheim group is one of the world’s 20 leading pharmaceutical
companies. Headquartered in Ingelheim, Germany, it operates globally with over 140 affiliates and more than 46,000 employees. Since it was founded in 1885, the family owned company has been committed to researching, developing, manufacturing and marketing novel products of high therapeutic value for human and veterinary medicine.