Wellness

You must be proactive and take responsibility for your health and the health of your family. You cannot afford to be complacent.

Many health-care systems are unsustainable:

  • In 2007, IBM released the report, “Healthcare 2015: Win-win or lose-lose?” It concluded that the current paths of many health-care systems around the world will become unsustainable by the year 2015.[1]
  • The United States spends 22% more than second-ranked Luxembourg, 49% more than third-ranked Switzerland on health care per capita, and 2.4 times the average of the other OECD[2] countries. Yet the World Health Organization ranks the US 37th in overall health-care system performance.[3]
  • In Canada, provincial health-care spending has been growing faster than revenue in all provinces, and also faster than inflation and economic growth. If trends continue, health-care spending in six of the ten provinces will consume more than 50% of all federal revenue by the year 2020.[4]
  • In Ontario, health care will account for 50% of governmental spending by 2011, 66% by 2017, and 100% by 2026.[5]
  • In British Columbia, if current trends continue, BC could be spending 71% of its budget on health care by 2017. If education spending in BC continues at its current level of 27% of the budget, there will be virtually nothing available for other areas of provincial responsibility beyond 2017.[6]
  • In China, 39% of the rural population and 36% of the urban population cannot afford professional medical treatment despite the success of the country’s economic and social reforms over the past twenty-five years.[7]

Disease trends are on the rise:

  • the World Health Organization predicts that deaths caused by diabetes will double between 2005 and 2030.[8]
  • one in three people have cardiovascular disease.[9]
  • cardiovascular disease accounts for 30% of all deaths.[10]
  • cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide and the total number of cases globally is increasing.[11]
  • currently, 1 in 2.3 men and 1 in 2.5 women will develop cancer in their lifetime.[12]
  • autism now affects 1 in 91 children.[13]

The incidence of overweight and obese adults and youth is increasing at an alarming rate in both developed and developing countries.[14] Currently, the World Health Organization ranks obesity is an epidemic global problem and a major contributor to the global burden of chronic disease and disability.[15]

A flawed health-care philosophy?

The primary focus of our current health-care system is disease management, not prevention or wellness. This philosophy is not only bankrupting our iStock_000001408353XSmallhealth-care system, it is also costing us dearly with respect to the quality of our lives.

Today, approximately 95% of prescription drugs sold are maintenance drugs that treat disease symptoms, have side effects, and are expected to be taken for life.

There is another solution!

The IBM report recommends that we adopt a proactive approach and focus on prevention supported by incentives, as well as accountability.

So, where do I start?  Start here.

Notes:

1. 2007 IBM Report on Health Care, “Healthcare 2015: Win-win or lose-lose? A portrait and a path to successful transformation,” IBM Institute for Business Value, (2007), pp. 1-8. http://www-935.ibm.com/services/us/gbs/bus/pdf/healthcare2015-win-win_or_lose-lose.pdf.                                                                                                               2. Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. www.oecd.org.  3. Ibid.                                                                                                    4. Neil Stuart and Jim Adams, “The Sustainability of Canada’s Healthcare System: A Framework for Advancing the Debate,” Healthcare Quarterly 10, no. 2 (2007), pp. 96-103. http://www.longwoods.com/content/18839.         5. 2007 IBM Report on Health Care, “Healthcare 2015: Win-win or lose-lose? A portrait and a path to successful transformation,” (2007), pp. 1-8.                6 Neil Stuart and Jim Adams, “The Sustainability of Canada’s Healthcare System: A Framework for Advancing the Debate,” (2007), pp. 96-103.           7. 2007 IBM Report on Health Care, “Healthcare 2015: Win-win or lose-lose? A portrait and a path to successful transformation,” (2007), pp. 1-8.               8. World Health Organization website, “Health Topics,” Fact Sheet, (2010). http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs312/en/index.html.                 9. American Heart Association website, “Cardiovascular Disease Statistics” (2006). http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4478.                                                                                      10. Heart and Stroke Foundation website, “Statistics” (2006). http://www.heartandstroke.bc.ca/site/c.kpIPKXOyFmG/b.3644453/k.3454/ Statistics.htm.                                                                                        11. World Health Organization website, “Health Topics,” Fact Sheet, (2010). http://www.who.int/features/qa/15/en/index.html.                                      12. Canadian Cancer Society website, “General Cancer Statistics for 2010.” http://www.cancer.ca/Canada- wide/About%20cancer/Cancer%20statistics/Stats%20 at%20a%20glance/General%20cancer%20stats.aspx?sc_lang=en.                                                                                            13. Michael D. Kogan et al, “Prevalence of Parent-Reported Diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder among Children in the US, 2007,” Pediatrics (published online Oct. 5, 2009), pp. 1395-1403. http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/abstract/peds.2009-1522v1. 14. World Health Organization website, “Media Center,” (2010). http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs311/en/index.html.                15. World Health Organization website, “Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity and Health,” (2010). http://www.who.int/dietphysicalactivity/publications/facts/obesity/en/.