By Ruby Pratka
Local Journalism Initiative
The Legault government is betting on preventive health care to ease the burden on the province’s health care system, as regional health authorities navigate budget cuts, stubbornly long emergency room wait times, ongoing labour force challenges and an aging population.
Surrounded by local and regional health officials at the Frederic Back Tree Pavilion of the Montreal Botanical Garden, Health Minister Christian Dubé; minister responsible for social services Lionel Carmant; minister responsible for sports, leisure and the outdoors and MNA for Brome-Missisiquoi Isabelle Charest; minister for seniors Sonia Bélanger and director of public health Dr. Luc Boileau launched what they described as a ten-year preventive health care strategy on Aug. 21.
Over the next year, the government plans to invest $15 million in a series of preventive health care strategies, including scaling up testing for diabetes, heart disease risks and certain types of cancer ($5 million); supporting programs run by local health authorities that help people quit smoking ($4 million); increasing the accessibility and visibility of recreation programs for children, adults and seniors who aren’t already physically active ($5 million); encouraging research and innovation in health monitoring and fighting online disinformation ($800,000); and encouraging public buy-in ($200,000). Over the long term, the strategy’s stated goals are reducing by 10 per cent the rate of premature deaths due to socioeconomic inequality and the impact of chronic illnesses on the health system.
“Our commitment has always been to address what is urgent while also ensuring we act on what is important. This is why health prevention is at the heart of our government’s strategic vision for a healthy Quebec. By adopting an ambitious national strategy today, we are ensuring greater consistency between government actions and those of our partners … to better respond to current and future health challenges,” Dubé said. “We need to act at the source to ensure the sustainability of our health system and thus prevent [illness and injury] today to protect all future generations. Prevention is part of the solution to release the pressure on our health network…and if we reduce the pressure, we will ensure access for those who need it. We’re encouraging people to take their own health in hand.”
Carmant, a pediatric neurologist before he entered politics, said he was happy to see the government investing in preventive health care. “Prevention has always been a priority for me. As soon as I entered politics, I implemented Agir tôt, which involves early screening for our little ones – and it works! I’m very pleased that our government is taking this direction because prevention is the foundation of good physical and mental health.”
“Obviously, we will always have to act curatively, but acting upstream, in prevention, obviously, is super important. And that of course involves good lifestyle habits, it involves physical activity, it involves access to these activities for all clienteles, young people, the less young, those with disabilities, for all socioeconomic classes,” Charest said, adding that a new call for submissions for a sports infrastructure grant program would be announced in the coming weeks.
Ministers did not take questions from the floor at the announcement. In a brief media scrum outside the venue, Dubé told reporters that more concrete measures would be announced over the next few months.