#290 Do We Need More Public Health?

In an interesting article written by Art Eggleton of The Huffington Post, he claims that to solve the health care crisis in Canada (and other countries) we need a stronger public health sector. 

 

There are a variety of opinions on whether we have a 'health care crisis' in Canada or not. If you were to ask anyone that is not Canadian they would tell you that health care in Canada is 'free' and glorious. However, some Canadians have a much different opinion of our current system.

 

The article sights that in 2015, 37% of the entire tax budget was spent on health care costs and that that number would be increasing, despite provinces best efforts to keep costs down while providing a high standard of care.

 

The solution? Decrease the burden of disease. How could we do that? According to the article, increase the funding to the public health sector towards areas with a sole focus on lifestyle and the prevention of disease. The article mentions that public health only receives 3-4% of all tax dollars, which is incredibly low compared to other sectors. 

 

Will this solution work, and is it the best option? Since this is not a political podcast and we are not politicians...we don't know. We do however know that waiting for the government to come and save you (or anyone for that matter) is not the best idea. You need to take your health into your own hands.

 

The purpose of this podcast is to help give you some ideas of how and why you should be responsible for your own health.

 

What I covered

• An overview of the article.
• Developing a strategy and a team of people that can help you be responsible for your own health.
• Some practical strategies for building that team.