This article from the Toronto Star illustrates the profound political and
attitudinal barriers facing those raising the issues of broader societal
determinants of health.  Graham Fraser is a national reporter for the Star
and can be reached at [log in to unmask]
Concerning the premiers, it is as if the last 30 years of health research
and Health Canada and Canadian Public Health Association statements on
broader determinants of health did not exist! HELP!!!
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http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1095199811683&call_pageid=968332188774&col=Columnist969907621570


 Premiers endorse lifestyle programs

GRAHAM FRASER
OTTAWA BUREAU

OTTAWA—Premiers seized on health promotion and public health strategies as
things they could agree with the federal government about, and
congratulated Ottawa for its support for programs to reduce smoking and
encourage healthy lifestyle habits.

One after another, the premiers endorsed action yesterday to combat chronic
illness through reducing tobacco use, fighting obesity and encouraging
physical activity, which Nova Scotia Premier John Hamm identified as the
three risk factors for chronic illness.

Hamm, who is a doctor, called on the federal government to keep up its
funding for health promotion, some of which is scheduled to expire next
year.

He said that, thanks to federal support, Nova Scotia had managed to reduce
tobacco use from the highest level in the country to the national average
in three years.

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty warned that the country faces the prospect
of a dramatic increase in diabetes, as a result of insufficient physical
activity and poor eating habits among Canadians.

He said that a recent study shows that if current trends continue, a third
of children born after 2000 will suffer from diabetes.

"Of those, one half will suffer renal failure, one third will suffer heart
attacks and one third will have a stroke," he said.

"All because of insufficient physical activity and poor eating."

As a result, he said, Ontario is banning the sale of junk food in schools
and making physical education mandatory.

New Brunswick Premier Bernard Lord said that there was a strong consensus
in the medical community about the need to invest in wellness and health
promotion.

"This is about health outcomes (and) increasing life expectancy," he said.

"The secondary benefit is cost savings."

Federal Minister of State Carolyn Bennett, a family doctor, said later that
all of the premiers have recognized the importance of public health.

"I think SARS scared everybody, but so have the other epidemics of cancer,
heart disease and diabetes," she said in an interview.

"Everybody knows we've got to turn this around, and it is the key to
sustainability," because a healthier population can lead to a reduction in
over-all health-care costs.

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