Today in the Ontario Health Promotion Email Bulletin (OHPE www.ohpe.ca)Connie Clement, Executive Director, Ontario Prevention Clearinghouse writes a personal reflection on what is needed to improve population health, and calls for action. An abbreviated part of the article follows - see the full feature at http://www.ohpe.ca
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Improving Population Health: An Election Wish List  	  
Fri. Sep 28, 2007

Introduction
As election promises escalate and Ontario's voting day draws near, readers will reflect on how we each use our vote and what we're asking of the elected provincial government. No party has a platform that puts population health front and centre; in fact, some concerns common to readers are not highly evident.

By most estimates, just less than 2% of health spending -- federally, provincially and in the territories -- goes to prevention and heath promotion. Social-safety-net spending -- critical to a healthy population and healthy individuals -- has not recovered from the provincial downloading to municipalities and deep cut-backs in the 1990s.

It's an unusual opportunity to get to write to several thousand respected colleagues to promote a wish list to improve population health. What you're about to read is challenging, yet doable; reasoned, though not exhaustive. I hope you'll join me in calling upon the government elected to take the following actions.

I  Invest in reducing health inequities
II  Invest in health promotion resources and infrastructure
III  Invest in civil society and community well-being
IV  Invest in public health
V  Invest in the health promoting and prevention capacity of health care
VI  Increase government fiscal and planning capacity to improve population health.

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... read the whole feature article at
http://www.ohpe.ca/ebulletin/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=8998&Itemid=78

For resources related to this feature, visit OHPE's updated list of election sites at http://www.ohpe.ca/ebulletin/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=8940&Itemid=78


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