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Dear Colleagues The Welsh Assembly Government Minister for Health and Social Services Jane Hutt has announced targets for mental health and childrens health. Press release below Best wishes David McDaid LSE Health and Social Care http://www.wales.gov.uk/assemblydata/N0000000000000000000000000016098.html Health and Social Services Minister Jane Hutt will underline the importance of the Welsh Assembly Government's new health gain targets when she visits Blaenau Gwent and Torfaen on Thursday, January 8, 2004. Targets for two priority areas - children's health and mental health - are being announced today. The Minister is launching Torfaen's Children's Information Service in Cwmbran at 10.45am, and will then visit Smart House in Tredegar to see how new technologies can help people with dementia live independently for longer. The health gain targets for children are: * To eliminate sustained person-to-person spread of mumps, measles and rubella by 2015 * To reduce pedestrian injuries to children (ages 0 to 14) from motor vehicle accidents by 35 per cent by 2012. The health inequality target for children is: * To reduce the incidence, severity and death rates of pedestrian injuries in the 0-14 age group by 2012. The mental health gain targets are: * To increase the mean Mental Component Summary Score (MCS) for Wales to 50 by 2012. (MCS is a means of assessing mental health status.) * To reduce the European Age Standardised Rate from suicide (including undetermined deaths) for all ages by at least 10 per cent by 2012. The health inequality target for mental health is: * To increase the mean MCS score for carers by one point by 2012. Jane Hutt said: "These targets and indicators link across current and developing health and social care policy and strategy, such as the National Service Framework for mental health and the NSF for children's health which is currently being developed. The aim is to provide focus and direction for improving health and reducing health inequalities in Wales."