A Look At Chronic Diseases In Ontario

Wednesday, 24 July 2019 at 07:56

Over eating, lack of exercise, drinking alcohol and smoking are the leading causes of chronic health in Ontario.

OXFORD COUNTY - Cancer Care Ontario and Public Health Ontario has released a new report on the Burden of Chronic Diseases in Ontario.

The report highlights the need to reduce the burden of chronic diseases in Ontario. Director of Chronic Disease Prevention and Well-being for Southwestern Public Health Peter Heywood says there are ways to avoid certain chronic diseases.

“We have carefully reviewed the Burden of Chronic Disease Report. The findings align with our own understanding of the experiences of the residents of Elgin and Oxford Counties as outlined in our 2019 Community Health Status Report. In an era with a significant amount of attention focused on reducing hallway medicine and the burden on acute care hospitals, this report endorses public health efforts to prevent illness in the communities we serve through robust health promotion programming.”

Chronic diseases are often long in duration and generally slow in progression. In addition, they are the leading cause of death with two-thirds of all deaths in Ontario caused by cancers, cardiovascular diseases, chronic lower respiratory diseases, and diabetes.

In the Southwestern Public Health (SWPH) region, nine of the ten leading causes of death are chronic diseases. The top three causes of death include ischaemic heart disease, lung cancer, and dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. SWPH residents also showed similar or higher rates of the risk factors for chronic diseases as discussed in the Report.

Heywood says education is the key when it comes to preventing chronic health diseases.

“Our teams work to reduce the burden of chronic diseases in many ways including working with municipalities to secure funding to build off-road trails to improve walkability, offering smoking cessation programs, and bringing stakeholders together to implement drug and alcohol strategies to address problematic substance use."

Chronic disease risk factors account for a significant economic burden in Ontario. The total annual direct healthcare costs and indirect costs (e.g., lost productivity due to disability and premature mortality) is estimated to be $7.0 billion for tobacco smoking, $4.5 billion for alcohol consumption, $2.6 billion for physical inactivity, and $5.6 billion for unhealthy eating, including $1.8 billion resulting from a lack of fruit and vegetable consumption.

You can read the 2019 Community Health Status Report from Southwestern Public Health online here.