Health and Well-being

There are few things more precious to us as individuals than our health. The health of British Columbians directly affects our well-being as a province. Maintaining our health is key to our success as individuals. We all have an interest in improving our quality of life and lengthening it.

As a society we want to know that the services we require to maintain our health are in place and functioning well. Maintaining a comprehensive system of support for those members of society who may need greater assistance, such as seniors, vulnerable children or people with disabilities, is part of what defines us as a modern caring society. A first-rate publicly funded health-care system is one of our hallmarks as Canadians.

But there are strains on our current system. New health-care technologies and treatments come at an increased cost, as do service requirements associated with our aging population. In 2007/08, British Columbia will spend $14.2 billion on health care, or 39 per cent of government spending. Potentially, we could be spending 70 per cent of our budget on health care by 2017, a level that is unsustainable in the long run. We need to set priorities and manage our health-care system to make sure it is sustainable for the future.

CONVERSATION ON HEALTH

The Conversation on Health is fostering a discussion among British Columbians to examine ways to make British Columbians healthier, and ways to improve and renew our health-care system while strengthening the Canada Health Act. Government is engaging all British Columbians across the province to better understand their priorities for health care and their recommendations for how to improve health-care services while ensuring they are sustainable. Their input will allow us all to define and enshrine in provincial legislation the five principles of the Canada Health Act and add a sixth — sustainability — that will ensure B.C.’s health programs and services are available in the future. We need the Conversation on Health because British Columbians can — and must — find ways of making our health system sustainable for the future.

ACTNOW BC

Each of us can make a tremendous impact on the cost and sustainability of the health-care system, and on the quality and length of our lives, by improving our own health. British Columbians are leaders in Canada and amongst OECD countries when it comes to healthy living and physical fitness. We have the longest life expectancy in North America and the second longest life expectancy in the world after Japan.¹ But we can improve our health even further by increasing our levels of physical activity, eating more healthily, and decreasing our consumption of unhealthy products such as tobacco.

ActNow BC is the most comprehensive health promotion program of its kind in North America. It helps British Columbians to make positive lifestyle choices, be active, and enjoy the good health they need to fully participate in society. By encouraging us all to make healthy choices, ActNow BC can deliver significant improvements in health outcomes, health system access and overall quality of life. Government is taking action to improve the health of British Columbians in significant ways, such as prohibiting smoking on all school property; prohibiting smoking in all indoor public spaces; banning junk food in vending machines in all provincially owned buildings; and supporting Silken’s Active Kids. British Columbians must all do their part to improve their own health.