Support for carers, widespread mammography and breast screening, and tackling smoking among Irish women are among the issues which the new chair of the Women's Health Council plans to address during the next three years.
As professor of health promotion at NUI Galway and director of the National Centre for Health Promotion Studies, Prof Cecily Kelleher is no stranger to the new council set up by the Department of Health and Children on foot of the Women's Health Strategy.
The purpose of the Women's Health Council is to inform and influence the development of health policy to ensure the maximum health and social gain for women in Ireland. Prof Kelleher believes the council will have considerable influence during the next few years because it has the resources and staff to implement a coherent work programme.
The council board includes representatives from a wide range of women's organisations, as well as ordinary women from different community situations.
A working plan for the next three years has been examined. Personal skills development, hormone replacement therapy, mammography and breast screening are among the priority issues.
Working with women with special needs, disabilities and Traveller women will be other priorities for Prof Kelleher in her new role. "I have a particular interest in support for carers. Programmes for carers have been offered at centres around the country for a number of years. Many women are working formally and informally in caring situations and they are very important in terms of health services."
An epidemiologist and public health physician by background, Prof Kelleher has a long-standing research interest in cardiovascular disease. She points out that the high incidence of the disease in Ireland affects women as well as men, especially older women.
"The council could help to bring a focus on the particular needs of women in relation to cardiovascular disease. I have very strong views that tackling smoking in women requires a social context and cannot be handled in isolation.
"For younger women the context of peer pressure must be looked at, while for older women there are issues like financial pressure and stress. If these could be tackled separately, giving up health risks like smoking would be much easier," she explained.
The department of health promotion, in conjunction with other departments at NUI Galway, was recently awarded a five-year grant from the Health Research Board to set up a research programme on health status and gain, with a particular focus on health inequalities.
Prof Kelleher has worked on a range of programmes related to women's health including the International WISDOM trial on hormone replacement therapy, projects on Travellers' health and the EU New Opportunities for Women project for social care workers.
