Rather than declare defeat, let's try and fight the battle...

It would be great if everyone knew about the social determinants of health.
 I for one, do not see any evidence of that among the public, media, and
government, that this is the case.

Nor do I see, any sincere effort on the board of public health officials to
identify these issues.  In every province I have visited and spoken of
these matters, I usually hear that the health sector (including public
health) is the most resistant to raising these issues.

To illustrate the Ontario Chief Medical Officer of Health's annual report
was NOT about poverty, income inequality, or community supports.  IT WAS
ABOUT DIABETES!!

So before, we argue of limited value in raising the issue of poverty and
income effects upon health, why don't we actually try and do it!  After
public health departments raise the issue in City Councils, among the
media, and the public -- and then get ignored -- then we can claim failure.

Annoyed and frustrated,

Dennis Raphael


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  Long have I looked for the truth about the life of people together.
  That life is crisscrossed, tangled, and difficult to understand.
  I have worked hard to understand it and when I had done so
  I told the truth as I found it.

  - Bertolt Brecht
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Dennis Raphael, Ph.D.
Associate Professor and Associate Director,
Masters of Health Science Program in Health Promotion
Department of Public Health Sciences
Graduate Department of Community Health
University of Toronto
McMurrich Building, Room 101
Toronto, Ontario, CANADA M5S 1A8
voice:    (416) 978-7567
fax: (416) 978-2087
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