A MAGAZINE providing information on the health of people in north Durham has been sent to thousands of households.

Our Health magazine has been produced by Dr Anne Low, director of public health for Derwentside Primary Care Trust, and Derwentside District Council.

It is a summary of the director of the report Health Improvement in Derwentside, to which both contributed.

The aim of the magazine is to give residents information on levels of ill-health in the district, identify areas where improvement is needed and highlight schemes that have been set up to improve children's health.

Dr Low said: "The health of the population of Derwentside has improved substantially compared to what it was ten years ago.

"In addition, some of the health gains in the district have been greater than those for the population of England and Wales over the same period."

She said there had been significant reductions in the health gap between Derwentside and the rest of the country for premature deaths from coronary heart disease (CHD) for men and women.

Derwentside is well on target to achieve the national target of a 40 per cent reduction in CHD mortality by 2010 and is likely to surpass the figure if current trends continue.