Ireland is becoming less active. According to the Healthy Ireland Survey 2024, only 41 per cent of people report meeting the National Physical Activity Guidelines by being moderately active for at least 150 minutes per week. That figure is down from 46 per cent in 2019. This means three in five Irish adults are not active enough.
But encouragingly, two-thirds (67 per cent) of those who fall short say they would like to be more active, according to the same survey. While the motivation exists, what may have been missing is an accessible, evidence-based and structured starting point, importantly backed by a trusted source, such as the HSE.
Published in 2024, the National Physical Activity and Sedentary Behaviour Guidelines, Every Move Counts, recommend that all adults should be active at moderate intensity for at least two hours and 30 minutes per week and complete strength activities on at least two days per week, or complete at least one hour and 15 minutes vigorous intensity activity per week. The Guidelines also recommend breaking up or replacing time spent sitting still with movement.
Fresh evidence has reinforced just how much difference small changes can make. A large-scale study published in The Lancet in January 2026, led by Ulf Ekelund of the Norwegian School of Sport Science and drawing on data from more than 135,000 people, found that adding just five extra minutes of brisk walking per day could prevent up to 10 per cent of premature deaths across the population and 6 per cent of deaths among the least active groups. Reducing sitting time by 30 minutes a day could prevent up to 7 per cent of early deaths. According to this study, five minutes per day is all it takes to start making a difference.
And it’s not just physical health that benefits the population, with long-recognised evidence highlighting improvements in sleep, anxiety, and other mental health concerns, as well as healthier ageing. It’s not just about living longer; it’s also about living better at every life stage.
Get Active is a free 10-week physical activity behaviour change programme aimed at supporting people to meet the Every Move Counts: National Physical Activity and Sedentary Behaviour Guidelines for Ireland. Clinicians and exercise professionals contributed to its design, and it draws on current evidence around behaviour change.
It is aimed at adults who are currently not very active and want to build more movement into their week. If you have patients who are inactive or active only one to three days a week, this programme is designed for them.
Over 10 weeks, participants follow a graded walking plan with two pathways depending on their current activity level. The orange plan is for those active zero to one days per week, starting with three 10-minute walks and building gradually. The blue plan is for those who are already active for two to three days and start at a higher baseline. Alongside walking, the programme includes muscle-strengthening sessions using resistance bands and weekly educational content on topics such as goal setting, overcoming setbacks and staying active after the programme ends.
Progress is tracked through an interactive dashboard on the free HSE Health app, where participants log completed walks, strength sessions and educational modules each week. For those who prefer not to use the app, a printed programme manual covers the same content. In time, the programme will also be available on HSE.ie.
The Get Active programme is available through the HSE Health app. The HSE Health app, first launched in February 2024 is available on both the App Store and Google Play. Through the app, patients can access information about their health and services, such as appointments and prescribed medications. To use all features, patients log in with a verified MyGovID.
To register for a MyGovID account, patients need their PPS number and Public Services Card, then simply follow the instructions. MyGovID is the same secure identity that can then be used to access Revenue, Welfare and other online government services.
From there, the Get Active programme delivers weekly content, tracks progress and provides encouragement. The HSE Health app itself has already seen strong uptake, with over 250,000 downloads and more than 400,000 booked appointments trackable for individual patients to date.
Once logged in, the process is straightforward. Patients locate the ‘Living Well’ section on the home screen and select ‘Get Active’ to sign up for the programme.
When patients register, they receive a free Get Active pack from the HSE, delivered to their home. It contains:
About half of Ireland’s population lives within one kilometre of a pharmacy, and 85 per cent within five kilometres, according to the CPA25. Pharmacies see more people, more often, than almost any other healthcare setting.
Many pharmacists are already taking a proactive approach to health promotion. Through the HSE Making Every Contact Count training, pharmacists have a ready-made framework for health promoting conversations. A patient collecting blood pressure or diabetes medication is a patient who may benefit from moving more. Pharmacists don’t need to deliver the programme; they just need to know it exists and signpost people to it. One conversation may change a patient’s life.
What makes this different from the hundreds of fitness apps already on the market? It’s free, HSE-backed, and designed with clinical input specifically for people who are currently inactive. During development, healthcare professionals told the HSE that having a credible place to send patients would make it easier to raise the topic of physical activity. Patients, in turn, said they often felt overwhelmed by the volume of health apps available and wanted something they could trust.
That trust matters. When you recommend the Get Active programme, you are recommending an HSE service, not a commercial product.
Printed flyers explaining how to sign up can be ordered at healthpromotion.ie. If you have an in-pharmacy screen, digital assets are available for display. A promotional video for the programme is available and meets HSE Digital accessibility standards, including Irish Sign Language, audio description, closed captions and transcription.
To help healthcare professionals promote physical activity and understand what is available to support patient conversations, the HSE is running a series of Every Move Counts webinars in 2026. Each webinar is open to all healthcare professionals and community partners, and free to register on the HSE’s Living Well website.
Chronic disease prevention runs through everything pharmacists do, from dispensing cholesterol medication to advising on smoking cessation. Physical activity sits alongside these interventions, and the Get Active programme is now available to support this conversation.
The Get Active Programme gives health and allied health professionals somewhere concrete to send people. It is structured, evidence-based, free and backed by the HSE. For the three in five Irish adults not currently meeting physical activity guidelines, a conversation with their pharmacist could be the nudge that gets them started.
For more information, visit www2.hse.ie/living-well/exercise/get-active.
Sarah O’Brien
National Lead: Healthy Eating & Active Living Programme, Health & Wellbeing, HSE
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