Two issues have captured a great deal of time and attention in Sun Country Health Region this year.
- Water, far too much of it for our needs, has been an ongoing issue for over two months.
- Mosquitoes, too many of them, will be an issue all the rest of the summer.
The public may not think of these as potential health issues as much as economic issues (for water) and nuisances (mosquitos), but they also can be health issues when certain conditions exist.
Flooding becomes a health issue when surplus water leads to mouldy buildings, contaminated water supplies and/or disruption of municipal water and sewage treatment. Mosquitos are a concern, for us in Saskatchewan at least, when they carry West Nile Virus. In other parts of the world, they carry other diseases that affect much larger percentages of the population.
Although other departments, like agriculture and environment, are involved in both of these issues, public health officials in the health regions carry a large part of the responsibility to intervene when necessary to help keep you healthy.
Public health is always a huge part of our business of helping people stay healthy or prevent illness. When the Canadian Public Health Association (CPHA) celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2010, a lot of people were reminded that as much as they value the hospital an hour away when they are sick, it is our public health programs that have kept us from needing a hospital.
The average lifespan of Canadians has increased by more than 30 years since the early 1900s. A full 25 years of this gain is attributable to advances in public health!
The 12 great Canadian public health achievements celebrated during CPHA's centenary were safer and healthier foods, control of infectious diseases, healthier environments, vaccination, recognition of tobacco use as a health hazard, motor-vehicle safety, decline in deaths from coronary heart disease and stroke, healthier mothers and babies, acting on the social determinants of health, universal policies, safer workplaces and family planning.
Those achievements have done more to help this generation live longer than any other part of our health care system.
The Father of Medicare, Tommy Douglas, said the ultimate goal of Medicare must be the task of helping people rather than just patching them up when they're sick. "In the long run it's cheaper to keep people well," he said. That makes sense to me.
So this summer, as you swat away the mosquitoes and watch the fields dry out, give a thought to the public health staff who are working to protect you and your community.
