Some 500,000 Irish adults have low literacy levels, according to the National Adult Literacy Agency (NALA).
Unveiling its plans for National Literacy Awareness Week, the agency said the problem has major implications for health providers and practitioners.
The theme for National Literacy Awareness Week - between 9th and 15th September - will be Health & Literacy.
According to figures from the NALA, a quarter of the adult population has serious difficulty reading medicine bottles and packaging, filling in medical forms, following signage in health centres and hospitals; reading health promotion material.
The NALA will host awareness-building events and disseminate information about this issue over the week. It will publish the NALA Health & Literacy Research report, distribute a postcard-size guide for health practitioners who meet adults with literacy difficulties and host a national discussion on Health & Literacy.
Last year, the NALA began a Health & Literacy Project to research on low levels of literacy as a barrier to good health. The second part of the project will identify possible ways to remove these barriers.