DRUG misuse, the menopause and coronary heart disease are just some of the problems up for discussion at a major conference in Accrington tomorrow.

The Asian Health Awareness conference will aim to spotlight Asian health in East Lancashire and raise awareness of key health issues relevant to their communities.

The event, at the Globe Centre, Accrington, between 10am and 1pm, will be hosted by the CommuniCare NHS Trust and is aimed at community groups, voluntary organisations and healthcare professionals working with the Asian community.

Kamlesh Patel, director of the ethnicity and health unit at the University of Central Lancashire, will be the first speaker. Mr Patel, a trained social worker, has run research projects examining drug use among Asian communities in the UK and has contributed to many national and regional bodies concerned with drug misuse and dependency. He was the founder of the National Black Drug Workers Forum. Karen Newbiggin, mental health service development manager for East Lancashire Health Authority, will speak about mental health problems. Her work has included the development of a mental health strategy for East Lancashire and she was in charge of a community consultation group that produced a report on mental health and ethnic minority groups.

Other speakers will include Dr Imran Chaudhry, a consultant psychiatrist working from Rossendale General Hospital, Dr Colin Sutherland who will talk about the menopause and Dr Alan Myers, a Consultant Physician and Cardiologist working at Blackburn Royal Infirmary.

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