NHS to offer screening for over-40s

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Three million men and women could be screened every year for major conditions as part of the scheme, estimated to cost £250m annually.

A "vascular check-up" to detect risk of heart disease and stroke will be offered, with patients undergoing further tests for diabetes and kidney disease if they are thought to be at risk of those conditions.

GP practices, community health centres and pharmacies are all likely to offer the tests, which will be rolled out from 2009/10.

Health charities welcomed the move saying it shifted attention to prevention rather than cure. Prime Minister Gordon Brown said he believed the scheme represented "the future of the health service".

But the plans came in for criticism from family doctors who said the burden on them would be far higher than the Government suggested.

Everyone aged 40 to 74 will be entitled to the checks, which are based on factors like age, sex, family history of disease, height, weight and blood pressure. A blood test to measure cholesterol will also be included.

Patients will receive a personal report setting out their risk of developing disease and practical things they can do to reduce it.

Mr Johnson said the target was for three million people to be screened every year.

Shadow health secretary Andrew Lansley said: "If the Government had delivered on its earlier promises, these checks would already be available in pharmacies, but just 1.1% of pharmacies have been commissioned to provide screening services."