LONDON, Jan. 7 (Xinhua) -- British Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced here Monday that patients in England will be offered screening for early signs of heart disease, stroke and kidney disease.

    In his first major speech of the year on health, Brown said he wanted a more "personalized" National Health Service (NHS) with a bigger focus on prevention.

    The speech followed health proposals offered last week by opposition Conservative leader David Cameron, who hoped those ideas would make the Conservatives the party of the NHS.

    Vowing to make the NHS the government's highest priority, Brown pledged that everyone in England will have access to the preventative health check-up.

    "The next stage is offering men over 65 a simple ultrasound test to detect early abdominal aortic aneurysm, or Triple A – the weakening of the main artery from heart to abdomen that kills over3,000 men a year -- and this will eventually save more than 1,600 lives each year," Brown said.

    "The NHS of the future will do more than just treat patients who are ill -- it will be an NHS offering prevention as well. The NHS of the future will be more than a universal service -- it will be a personal service too," he added.

    There are 15 million people in England with long-term conditions ranging from asthma to hearth disease.

    The prime minister disclosed that in the next few months, Health Secretary Alan Johnson will set out plans for NHS tests to identify vulnerability to heart and circulation problems.

    Vascular screening, to be introduced this year or early in 2009, is reported to include a series of blood, fat and sugar tests in GP (general practitioners') surgeries.