The proposed national plan for the National Health Service is to be published next month and will concentrate on preventing ill health.
Speaking at Huddersfield university on June 12, the Secretary of State for Health (Mr Alan Milburn) said: "There will be a new priority on improved prevention and early intervention, as well as improved treatment. The plan will set out a step change from the health prevention policies of the past - advertising and health promotion - towards active interventions around cancer and coronary heart disease."
Mr Milburn said that there would be more check ups and screening programmes and more direct help for people at risk from heart disease, not just guidance on diet and exercise. There would also be more help for people to give up smoking, rather than just advice that they should.
The Secretary of State was speaking at the opening of a new building, the Harold Wilson building, to house the university's school of human and health sciences.