Representatives of the Eastern Health Board and voluntary agencies sat in their coats in the EHB boardroom in Dublin. Some were rubbing their hands to get warm. The free thermometer card sponsored by the ESB registered 55 degrees ("Cold: Danger of Hypothermia").
In fact the temperature was only 52 degrees, according to Dr Sheila McEvilly of the Eastern Health Board community care section. The heating had been turned off to bring home to those gathered for the start of the Reach Out campaign what insufficient heating felt like.
The campaign is aimed at warning the public in general and old people in particular of the dangers of hypothermia. Ireland has one of the worst rates in the world of "extra" deaths among old people in winter, according to Dr McEvilly. The winter increase over the average rate of death for the over-65 age group has been 30 and 32 per cent for the past two years, she said, while Iceland registered no increase and Norway an increase of only 2 per cent.
Ireland also saw an increase in coronaries, strokes and respiratory illnesses among older people who went on to recover, she said. Yet the last few winters were fairly mild, and there was no influenza epidemic.
A survey of eight European countries published in The Lancet showed that warmer countries saw a greater increase in deaths among the elderly in winter than colder ones, she said. The reasons were identified as low living-room temperatures, limited bedroom heating and a low proportion of people wearing hats, gloves and anoraks when out of doors.
There was a need to educate people in the need to keep warm. She said 80,000 card thermometers, sponsored by the ESB, Alone and the EHB, would be distributed.
The ESB was donating 10 storage heaters, and Energy Ireland 10 vouchers for insulation, to the Society of St Vincent de Paul.
Dr McEvilly said there was a need to look at the funding of the fuel allowances for older people. Of the 413,888 people over 65 in Ireland, 301,733 had medical cards. Yet only 114,531 were receiving fuel allowances.
In the over-75 age-group, which was identified as at high risk of hypothermia, the proportion was similar, with only 40,399 out of 174,531 receiving fuel allowances, suggesting the criteria were too strict, she said.
Dr Brendan McWilliams of Met Eireann said that the Irish climate was the mildest at this latitude in the world. For example Cork, at 52 degrees north, had an average winter temperature of six degrees Celsius, while at the same latitude Berlin had an average winter temperature of zero, central Asia of minus 20 degrees and Winnipeg, Canada, minus 12 degrees.