A MAJOR blueprint setting out how the health of East Lancashire people could improve in the new millennium has been published.

A draft version of East Lancashire's Health Improvement programme has been produced for 1999/2000. The document highlights the main health problems in each of the six main areas of East Lancashire.

They include:

Blackburn: Mental health

Hyndburn: Coronary heart disease, young people's health and ethnic minority housing needs

Ribble Valley: Mental health, services for the elderly.

Burnley: Coronary heart disease, mental health.

Pendle: Mental health and health inequalities.

Rossendale: Coronary heart disease, respiratory disease.

The report focuses on the 'significant health inequalities' in many parts of the district.

The East Lancashire Health Authority report says: "Locally, we have already shared a wealth of data which demonstrates significant health inequalities between and within our six borough localities.

"The challenge to new structures and ways of working will be to target available investment into the greatest areas of need, using evidence-based practice to ensure this investment will improve overall health status and social wellbeing."

The draft report is inviting comments from health workers before February 5, but will be discussed at a meeting of East Lancashire Health Authority on Wednesday .

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.