Improve ways to prevent, manage diabetes: report
Less than a week after a study documented a startling rise in diabetes rates, the Health Council of Canada has issued recommendations aimed at promoting a “prevent it, find it, manage it” approach to primary health care.
The council, formed in the aftermath of the Romanow commission, says Canada needs to speed up changes in how health care is organized and delivered to people with chronic health problems such as diabetes.
“Promotion of healthy living to prevent chronic health conditions requires a strategic combination of public policy, targeted clinical care and a range of community-based campaigns to motivate people to change their eating and exercise habits,” states the 70-page report issued Monday by the council.
“Canada faces an unprecedented need for public investments in prevention.”
In terms of treating people already diagnosed with chronic health problems, the report says there’s strong evidence that delivering care through teams made up of nurses, pharmacists, nutritionists and doctors helps people with diabetes improve their blood sugar levels.
Yet, the report said “few Canadians have routine access to teams of health care professionals where they receive health care.”
As well, the recommendations said there should be electronic health records and support systems for patients to reduce the risk of complications.
“The way we provide health care today leaves too many people vulnerable to serious health problems that could be avoided,” Dr. Ian Bowmer, vice-chair of the Health Council of Canada, said in a statement.
“If we don’t support prevention and change the way we deliver care for chronic health conditions, we are not optimizing care and are putting the quality of life of Canadians at risk.”
The report urges programs be established to identify and target groups at risk for diabetes, citing the Kahnawake Schools Diabetes Prevention Program and a Latin American diabetes program in London, Ont.
Last week, a study by the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences published in the Lancet said cases of diabetes have risen so dr?matically in Ontario that the proportion of adults with the disease has already surpassed the World Health Organization’s predicted global rate for a quarter-century from now.
The study found that in 2005, almost nine per cent of Ontarians over age 20 had diabetes, up from 5.2 per cent a decade earlier. Experts said the provincial figures mirror what is believed to be happening in the rest of Canada.
That almost 70 per cent jump means that diabetes among our population far exceeds the 6.4 per cent worldwide prevalence rate — and the 8.4 per cent rate for developed countries alone — projected by the WHO for 2030.
Source: The Canadian Press
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