A multi-million pound package has been unveiled to tackle health inequalities in Bradford and Keighley.

The programme of initiatives, which are part of Bradford's Health Action Zone and which would be worth £2.8 million next year, has been submitted to ministers, including Health Secretary Frank Dobson, as part of a revolutionary switch in policy to tackle the causes of poor health as well as illness.

The package will target 190,000 people - 40 per cent of people in the district - who are estimated to be deprived. The strategy will be implemented over seven years, looking not only at specific improvements to NHS services but also examining the impact of inadequate housing, high unemployment and poor environmental conditions.

Among key objectives are:

l Spending £590,000 to improve GP and community health services, including the creation of three major centres at Horton Park and Manningham in Bradford and in Keighley;

l Action to further develop diabetic services worth £250,000, including the extension of satellite clinics to Airedale as well as a screening programme for people at risk of the disease - a first in the country;

l Investment totalling £700,000 in rehabilitation and recuperation services mainly for pensioners recovering from illness and injury, including a flying squad of specialists created to treat people at home.

Bradford Health Authority's assistant director of planning, Andrew Kenworthy, said the plans had been drawn up following talks involving a wide range of groups including hospital and community health chiefs, GPs, Bradford Council, police, trade unions, business and Bradford University.

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