OUNCE OF PREVENTION
Calgary oilman and philanthropist Jim Gray deserves credit for drawing attention to the importance of encouraging Albertans to live healthy lives. Gray is chairman of the Wellness Alberta coalition and is calling on the provincial government to create an independent foundation funded annually by $ 60 million from the public’s coffers.
“We are confident that the premier and the health minister will make the improved health of Albertans a top priority by committing to the creation of a provincial wellness foundation,” Gray said this week. “Alberta needs a wellfinanced, effective and sustainable wellness foundation to reduce the burden of chronic disease and injury.”
The coalition — which says provincial funding should climb to at least $ 200 million in three to five years — is on solid footing in urging that preventive health become a greater priority.
Ron Kneebone and Herb Emery, professors at the University of Calgary’s School of Public Policy, have previously noted Alberta’s healthcare system is unsustainable because of everrising costs. Kneebone and Emery believe it is essential to change the emphasis away from acute care toward maintaining our health.
“This will reduce the flow of people into the acute care system and save the publicly funded health- care system from going broke,” wrote the academics. “This, then, is the only way of saving the health- care system as we know it currently: Making a greater effort to keep people healthy.”
The coalition believes the government could fund the wellness foundation through general revenues or with a special tax on tobacco, alcohol or sugar- sweetened drinks. As noble as the cause is, it’s fair to say Albertans are already being taxed enough for their tipples and cigarettes. If the preventive medicine initiative holds the promise of reducing health- care costs, then the money should be found within existing revenues.
It could be argued, in fact, that the case is so clear cut for such a refocusing of health care, that it should be part of the government’s mandate, rather than something championed by those outside government. But then again, perhaps the system is so fixated on its current methods that it can’t be relied upon to embrace a new way of doing things.
It’s to be hoped the Rachel Notley government gives the coalition’s proposal the careful consideration it deserves. Human nature being what it is, it’s likely some people will always indulge in unhealthy habits, but the evidence in support of such an initiative is strong. The fact it has attracted the energies of community leaders such as Gray, makes the case all the more compelling.