Free medical check-ups would be provided every five years to all adults in the State if Fine Gael were in government, its health spokesman, Dr Liam Twomey, said yesterday.
Introducing a document outlining how the scheme would work, he said if patients were screened at regular intervals illnesses and diseases would be picked up early, could be controlled and monitored, resulting in better outcomes for patients and a reduced burden on the health service.
Patients would have their blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol levels checked during screening. Women would have regular smear tests, men regular PSA tests for prostate cancer and smokers offered chest X-rays to detect lung cancers early.
Dr Twomey said treating the complications of diabetes such as blindness and amputation costs between 6 and 10 per cent of the total health budget each year. "There is no great saving to be made over the lifetime of a government but there would be huge savings to the State beyond that," he said.