Health clinic visits city's 'Curry Mile'

The health project is targeting volunteers from under-represented groups

A clinic has been set up on Manchester's Curry Mile in a bid to find volunteers from under-represented communities to take part in a huge health programme.

Locals on Wilmslow Road in Rusholme - famous for its many curry houses - have been invited to take part in the government and industry-funded Our Future Health project.

It is billed as the UK's largest health research programme and aims to recruit five million participants to analyse their genes and lifestyles to prevent disease.

The project's chief executive Dr Raghib Ali said people of "all ages and backgrounds" were needed to "help everyone live longer".

'Delighted'

Dr Ali said the team was "delighted" to be hosting the clinic, that will take volunteers blood samples and other measurements, as well as providing information about their health.

"As someone from the Muslim community, I know that people like me have been under-represented in health research in the past, leading to significant health inequalities."

The project, which aims to recruit five million volunteers by 2028 to create a detailed picture of the UK's health, has already published some of its findings on cholesterol rates.

The mobile clinic is open on Wilmslow Road in Rusholme until 4 May for volunteers to attend appointments.