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by tmi
Diabetes association calls for provincial plan to curb disease
By SHARON LEM,TORONTO SUN
Last Updated: September 8, 2010 3:53pm
It’s imperative for the Ontario government to develop an improved diabetes strategy to deal with Ontario’s growing epidemic, says the head of a national organization battling the disease.
The Canadian Diabetes Association released a report Wednesday which says the economic costs of diabetes in Ontario will reach $4.9 billion in direct and indirect financial costs in 2010 and if an improved diabetes strategy isn’t implemented by the province, it will jump to $7 billion by 2020 with one in four Ontarians living with diabetes or qualifying as pre-diabetic.
“The economic burden of diabetes in Ontario and the projected statistics are completely frightening,” said Michael Cloutier, president and CEO of the Canadian Diabetes Association. “We believe this will have a disastrous effect on the sustainability of our health care system.”
Hospitalizing diabetes patients accounted for 22% of the total cost of the $4.9 billion in 2010, while indirect mortality and disability costs accounted for the rest.
The report recommends the Ontario government adjust its current strategy to reflect three key areas.
They include a broad-based diabetes prevention strategy, a strategy to reach those at high-risk and as well a complications prevention strategy to cut down on patients showing up in hospital emergency rooms for problems that could have been avoided.
Health Minister Deb Matthews spokesman Ivan Langrish said the government has long recognized the dramatically increasing prevalence of diabetes in the province and growing health care costs associated with the disease.
Langrish says a number of initiatives were developed to improve diabetes education, early intervention and effective prevention of complications when the government launched its $741 million diabetes strategy in July, 2008.
Cloutier says the government’s existing strategy, needs an independent agency to manage the evolution of an improved diabetes strategy.
“We believe this independent agency will have the ability to focus on diabetes and pre-diabetes because the government has a wide host of initiatives and health care in general to manage, whereas the agency can concentrate on the programs which fall under the diabetes strategy,” Cloutier said.
The agency would be responsible for ensuring the strategy programs, educational initiatives and diabetes care are carried out consistently across the province, regardless if patients live in cities or rural areas.
There were 410,800 Ontarians living with diabetes in 1995.
The number rose to 546,000 Ontarians living with diabetes five years later and in 2005, the number jumped to 809,600. It’s estimated 1,169,000 Ontarians have diabetes right now and that number is expected to 1,903,000 by 2020.
The Canadian Diabetes Association released a report Wednesday which says the economic costs of diabetes in Ontario will reach $4.9 billion in direct and indirect financial costs in 2010 and if an improved diabetes strategy isn’t implemented by the province, it will jump to $7 billion by 2020 with one in four Ontarians living with diabetes or qualifying as pre-diabetic.
“The economic burden of diabetes in Ontario and the projected statistics are completely frightening,” said Michael Cloutier, president and CEO of the Canadian Diabetes Association. “We believe this will have a disastrous effect on the sustainability of our health care system.”
Hospitalizing diabetes patients accounted for 22% of the total cost of the $4.9 billion in 2010, while indirect mortality and disability costs accounted for the rest.
The report recommends the Ontario government adjust its current strategy to reflect three key areas.
They include a broad-based diabetes prevention strategy, a strategy to reach those at high-risk and as well a complications prevention strategy to cut down on patients showing up in hospital emergency rooms for problems that could have been avoided.
Health Minister Deb Matthews spokesman Ivan Langrish said the government has long recognized the dramatically increasing prevalence of diabetes in the province and growing health care costs associated with the disease.
Langrish says a number of initiatives were developed to improve diabetes education, early intervention and effective prevention of complications when the government launched its $741 million diabetes strategy in July, 2008.
Cloutier says the government’s existing strategy, needs an independent agency to manage the evolution of an improved diabetes strategy.
“We believe this independent agency will have the ability to focus on diabetes and pre-diabetes because the government has a wide host of initiatives and health care in general to manage, whereas the agency can concentrate on the programs which fall under the diabetes strategy,” Cloutier said.
The agency would be responsible for ensuring the strategy programs, educational initiatives and diabetes care are carried out consistently across the province, regardless if patients live in cities or rural areas.
There were 410,800 Ontarians living with diabetes in 1995.
The number rose to 546,000 Ontarians living with diabetes five years later and in 2005, the number jumped to 809,600. It’s estimated 1,169,000 Ontarians have diabetes right now and that number is expected to 1,903,000 by 2020.