Atrial Fibrillation Campaign

Atrial Fibrillation is a condition which is estimated to affect over 50,000 people in Northern Ireland, and is a significant contributor to premature death and disability. Detecting and appropriately treating AF is a major health issue in Northern Ireland.

We are campaigning to improve services in this area. We are;

• seeking to raise general awareness amongst health professionals and the general public in NI of what AF is and how it can be detected and managed.
• asking government to ensure that all those who are on the Atrial Fibrillation Register are regularly reviewed to check that they are receiving appropriate treatment.
• asking government to ensure that patients in Northern Ireland have access to the latest NICE approved treatments, including medicines as soon as possible.
• exploring the methods by which patients could be cost effectively targeted and checked for AF, and investigating the rationale and logistics of a programme of opportunistic testing for AF aimed at specific population cohorts.
• investigating how patients can be better educated about their condition, in particular exploring how medicine adherence can be improved.

NICHS has added AF to the list of conditions we look for during our health checks.