National: Ireland's health system is run by eight regional health boards which are all centrally controlled by the Department of Health and Children, headed by the Minister for Health and Children. Free medical care is available for some of those on low incomes and is granted by means testing. Hospital services are available for a reasonable charge to those with higher incomes. The health service is financed by taxation and receives the highest budget allocation each year.
Ireland has one of the highest birth rates in the EU, running at 14.3 per 1,000 people in 1998 and this rate is expected to continue rising until 2006. The population is expected to reach between four and five million in the Republic by the year 2031. The average life expectancy is estimated at 74.06 years for males and 79.74 years for females.
The death rate was estimated at 8.14 per 1,000 people in 2000. The principal causes of death in the same year were diseases of the circulatory system accounting for 42 per cent of the total. Over 20 per cent of all deaths were due to cancer and 1.3 per cent were caused by motor vehicle traffic accidents. Within the cardiovascular group of diseases, coronary heart disease (CHD) is responsible for almost a quarter of deaths of all ages.
Strokes which are also resultant from vascular problems amounted to 10 per cent of all deaths. Cancer is increasingly significant in the Irish mortality rate. In 1996, 20,818 new cases of cancer were recorded in Ireland and 7,436 people died from cancer. 344 AIDS sufferers died out of a total of 682 in 1999. There was been an increase in the number of new HIV cases in 2000, with a jump to 342 cases compared with 209 in 1999, according to official statistics.
For the first time, the biggest increase was among heterosexuals, with 125 new cases compared to 59 in 1999 and 47 in 1998. The increase was due to increased sexual activity among young people who were not practicing safe sex.
Personal: No vaccinations are required. Water is always safe to drink and food is safe to eat as well.
The Irish National Health Plan does not cover United States or Canadian visitors. Ask your insurance agent or broker before you travel if your health plan is valid in Ireland.
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