Health Secretary John Reid today launched a multi-million pound interactive digital TV service from the NHS.

Dr Reid said NHS Direct Interactive would give easy-to-understand information to the public on a range of subjects including diet, sexual health and common illnesses.

The service, which is available to digital satellite viewers from today and other digital viewers during the course of next year, will receive é5 million investment each year for the next three years.

Dr Reid said it was a key tool in tackling inequalities in health between the richest and poorest sections of society.

"It will not just be available to the affluent.

"It will help us to tackle health inequalities because digital TV access is not confined to those in the highest socio-economic categories," he said at the launch in London today.

The digital service, which is accessed by pressing the interactive button on the TV remote, is made up of about 3,000 pages of information.

It includes an A-Z of health topics covering illnesses such as flu, diabetes and heart disease.

Diet

There are also sections on diet and nutrition, exercise and quitting smoking and video clips on a range of other subjects.

It provides other information about the NHS such as how to register with a GP.

Harry Cayton, the Government's national director for patients and the public, said the aim was to provide information in an easy-to-understand format.

He pointed out that an estimated seven million adults in the UK had literacy standards below that of the average 11-year-old.

"We want to drive up health outcomes for disadvantaged groups. We want to empower people to make their own choices about health. We want to help people to participate more confidently in healthcare decisions," Mr Cayton said.

Dr Reid said that 7.5 million households in the UK had access to digital satellite TV, meaning the interactive service had the potential to reach a huge audience.

"The public have told us they want easy access to high quality information so they can make their own choices about their health and healthcare.

"People already have access to the NHS Direct service via their telephone and through the internet.

"The interactive TV channel is another avenue in which the public can find advice," he said.

NHS Direct chief executive Ed Lester said: "NHS Direct has quickly established itself as a national institution and is used by millions of people who need advice from a reliable source.

"Interactive digital television is an extension to the service and a way to reach a wider audience."

When the service was first announced last year there were suggestions that it could eventually expand to let patients request repeat prescriptions through their TV without having to visit their doctor.

The NHS Direct phoneline is available by calling 0845 46 47. The website is http://www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk .

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