The Canadian Diabetes Association and the National Aboriginal Diabetes Association applaud the federal government for its decision to renew the Aboriginal Diabetes Initiative (ADI) as presented in the budget announcement on March 4. Please download full Press Release MR Federal Budget 2010 (60)
By André Picard
From Thursday’s Globe and Mail
There will be much said and written about Thursday’s federal budget: If words were dollars, there would be no deficit (or debt).
Pundits will pontificate on how Finance Minister Jim Flaherty has balanced stimulus initiatives and restraint measures, declare winners and losers in the doling-out-dollars sweepstakes and howl about taxes imposed and opportunities missed. The Opposition will get in its digs. In short, the air will be ripe with second guessing and election speculation.
However predictable the process and the rhetoric are, though, budgets matter: They matter to our fiscal health and they matter to our physical health.
There is unlikely to be much in the federal budget pertaining to health, aside from some passing self-congratulatory mentions of Ottawa’s contribution to Canada’s most popular social program (medicare) and some dire words about the need to rein in spending.
Even so, how much Ottawa spends on health is a lot less than it should be. (When medicare began, the federal government footed half the bill; now it’s less than 25 per cent.)
The biggest chunk of health spending in fiscal year 2010-11 is the $25.4-billion in cash and $13.1-billion in tax points Ottawa will provide to the provinces and territories. These amounts are set out in the Canada Health Transfer, a deal that expires in 2013-14.
The principal goal of the federal government is to display its bare pockets and plead poverty in a bid to keep provincial-territorial demands for more health dollars to a minimum.
In addition to the transfers, the federal government spends significant sums on health, including about $3.3-billion for Health Canada, $924-million for the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, $648-million for the Public Health Agency of Canada and roughly $27-million or so on sundry other federal agencies such as the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board.
Aside from those big picture and big dollar manoeuvres, much of what matters in the health field can be found in the fine print of the budget.
In particular, a goodly chunk of federal health monies are allocated in grants, big and small, by Health Canada ($1.4-billion annually) and the Public Health Agency of Canada ($255-million each year).
These grants are the lifeblood of countless health organizations and programs across the country. Their continued life or death can hang in the balance of a single seemingly throwaway line in the budget.
For example, the 2007 budget allocated $2-million to the Canadian MedicAlert Foundation for a wonderful program to provide alert bracelets free of charge to children with health conditions or serious allergies.
But these are post-recessionary times, so many groups are on tenterhooks, wondering if they will take it on the neck in the name of belt-tightening.
One of the programs at risk is the Aboriginal Diabetes Initiative.
There are few health issues more pressing than dealing with the epidemic of diabetes in first nations, Inuit and Métis communities. About one in five aboriginal people in Canada have Type 2 diabetes, a chronic condition that is a leading cause of heart disease, kidney disease, blindness and amputation.
Yet, it is highly unlikely that the Finance Minister will utter the word “diabetes” when he rises in Parliament.
Diabetes, a disease of poverty, is a scourge on reserves, in remote communities and among urban native populations. We spend a bundle on treatment (a provincial responsibility) but a pittance on prevention and health promotion (a federal responsibility).
Health Canada invests about $40-million a year in the Aboriginal Diabetes Initiative (ADI - because bureaucrats love to give everything an acronym).
That modest amount of money funds prevention, screening and health promotion in 600 communities and provides a bit of money for national aboriginal organizations to work on diabetes.
There is also a backstory - isn’t there always? The vast majority of the ADI money is spent on reserves and in Inuit communities north of 60.
The large and ever-growing aboriginal population in Canada’s urban centres also has a severe diabetes problem. It can’t be ignored because of the federal government’s (under the Conservatives as well as the Liberals) narrow-minded view of its fiduciary responsibility toward Métis and so-called “non-status” Indians.
That underlying issue is too complex to tackle in passing - let’s leave it to the Supreme Court of Canada - but suffice to say that $40-million is a pittance to spend on a problem of such breadth and depth.
Yet, perversely, the funding for ADI stops soon - at the end of this month.
It’s unclear if there will be any money allocated to aboriginal diabetes in the budget.
But what is clear is that what matters in a budget is not just the big picture and the big numbers. There are programs that, despite their laughably small budgets, speak volumes about our commitment to health and social justice.
So we owe it to ourselves to read the fine print.
NADA’s Annual Report for the fiscal year 2008-2009 is now available in pdf format on our website [Download not found]
The Eagle Book Series consist of 3 books. Watch the animated version of these 3 books now:
http://www.cdc.gov/CDCTV/EyesOfTheEagle/
The Aboriginal Diabetes Initiative (ADI) provides funding for diabetes prevention and management programs and services for over 600 Aboriginal communities across Canada. However, the ADI is set to expire on March 31, 2010.
Please join the National Aboriginal Diabetes Association and the Canadian Diabetes Association in an on-line letter campaign to place ADI Renewal as a top priority in the upcoming federal budget.
Commit to the vision of diabetes-free people by taking a few moments of your time to click on the link to the CDA’s website.
http://www.diabetes.ca/get-involved/news/aboriginal-diabetes-initiative-renewal-campaign/
Show your support for renewing and increasing funding for Aboriginal diabetes programs and services.
NADA is pleased to share the final report on the 5th National Conference. View the report 5th National Conference (1274)
We are interested in success stories or experiences that you have had while working in the field of diabetes or more specifically, with people living with diabetes. Articles can be as long as one and half letter page. Make sure you also send us relevant pictures to go with your story. Articles will be published in the next issue of NADA’s newsletter. The newsletters are distributed to over 1000 active members 500 working partner organizations of NADA working in the field of diabetes. If you are interested in submitting your article, please forward it to in attention of Alisher Kabildjanov at diabetes@nada .ca
Click on the link to download the full report and the attached table.
NADA Surveillance Report (569)Dear Friends:
The Pathwell to Wellness series was developed in 2005 and has since become among our more popular resources for Aboriginal people with diabetes. It is now time to update the books and in our increasing efforts to solicit the input of our members, we respectfully request any ideas you may have on how they can be improved.
If you like to makes recommendations to improve Pathwell to Wellness books, please email your suggestions to info@nada.ca or call us at (204) 927-1220 or toll free at 1-877-232-6232.
We appreciate your assistance as we work to improve resources available for Aboriginal people living with diabetes.
Read NADA Executive Director’s speech and recommendations presented at United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues Eighth Session by clicking below