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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

Invest in prevention

By: Editorial

Posted: 08/15/2012 1:00 AM | Comments: 0

The country's physician lobby is turning its mind to getting at the root of ill health, a welcome sign that doctors are recognizing that not even the richest of countries can buy their way to universal longevity. The Canadian Medical Association also wants the federal government to push for relatively the same level of health care regardless of where Canadians live. The CMA would do better to focus on keeping people from getting sick in the first place.

The CMA's new president, Anna Reid, gets closer to the real problem behind inequity in this country. Ms. Reid, from the Northwest Territories, says she sees the issues plaguing communities that are isolated and impoverished, particularly among aboriginals.

For years, social and health policy researchers have recognized the poorer you are the more likely you are to fall sick, live with a chronic illness and die years younger than those of higher incomes. The pressures of poverty, the various social problems that accompany it, set people up for higher rates of injury, addictions and chronic illnesses such as diabetes.

The fix requires governments to support families in poverty not just with reasonable social-assistance rates and job training but with programs that target the very young -- toddlers and primary-school children. Education is key to working out of poverty, and getting kids ready for school is key to keeping them there to graduation and into post-secondary programs.

Health care plays a small part in a life of good health. It is time governments and health practitioners emphasized prevention, and attacking the social factors that clip people's lives short. Good health relies on good diet and exercise, but for those living in poverty, it requires strong social supports and an emphasis on education, especially for the young, to improve the chances of prosperity.

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition August 15, 2012 A10

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