Good morning. Thank you, members of the committee, for the opportunity to speak with you today.
A hundred years ago, two of my great-aunts died of untreatable type 1 diabetes. Shortly thereafter, Canada's Dr. Banting discovered insulin and saved the lives of millions, including mine. While I'm grateful for the life-saving innovations, there are still immense challenges to living with chronic disease.
I was diagnosed with diabetes when I was 20. Living with the disease since then has taught me many valuable lessons, but it has also taken a toll. Imagine going to work every day feeling like you have the flu. That's the reality for many people with diabetes, and it affects our economic productivity. Just a couple of years ago, I had to leave a job because my employer would not accommodate the effects that diabetes has on me. My experience is far from unique.
When I was last here, Mr. Fergus rightly observed that diabetes is a scourge. It directly affects one in three Canadians and costs our health care system $27 billion each year. It's growing in prevalence, and costs are rising at a rate of about 40% per decade now and showing no signs of slowing. It claims thousands of Canadian lives and disables tens of thousands more each year. It affects indigenous Canadians far more adversely.
What we are doing now to address this epidemic is, quite simply, not working. That's why Diabetes Canada and nearly 100 partner organizations believe that Canada needs a nationwide strategy to prevent and manage diabetes now. In simple terms, Canada is failing its citizens and unnecessarily jeopardizing their health the longer we wait to develop and implement a national strategy. It's not just our community that thinks this is the best approach. A national strategy is a best practice widely recommended by the World Health Organization and other global leaders.
Diabetes 360° is that strategy. It is based on the hugely successful 90-90-90 model implemented globally to combat HIV/AIDS, and it is the product of collaboration among 120 stakeholders, including nine provinces.
Developed over more than a year of rigorous effort, Diabetes 360° contains evidence-based recommendations aimed at improving patient outcomes. It will enhance the prevention, screening and management of diabetes to achieve better health for Canadians. It will reduce unnecessary health care spending by billions of dollars, improve the lives of millions of Canadians, and protect Canada's productivity and competitiveness.
Diabetes 360° can save our health care system billions of dollars in both the short and long terms. For example, if every Canadian who has prediabetes had access to the proven diabetes prevention program, every year we could prevent more than 100,000 Canadians from receiving a diagnosis of diabetes. If we improve the care that those already living with diabetes receive, research shows that we could prevent a minimum of 5,000 amputations and 35,000 hospitalizations every year. That would save $18 billion in the next decade alone.
There are also significant savings to be realized by Canadian businesses. According to Benefits Canada magazine, employees living with diabetes cost their employers an average of $1,500 per year in lost productivity and a further $1,500 per year in additional benefit costs. Preventing those 100,000 Canadians per year from developing diabetes will save Canadian businesses a further $18 billion in the next decade.
Canada's economic prosperity depends on a healthy workforce. Not a day goes by that we aren't bombarded by alarming accounts of our labour shortage and resulting concerns about productivity, innovation and global influence. Many of the five million Canadians living with diabetes today are of working age, and we know that the effects of living with this challenging disease impede their ability to fully participate in the workforce. For employees who must take disability leave because of their diabetes, their leaves are on average 15% longer, and many remain on disability until death.
The implementation of Diabetes 360° recommendations can ensure Canada's economic health at the same time that it ensures our physical health. To implement these recommendations, Diabetes Canada suggests that a seven-year national partnership be created. The partnership will collaborate with provinces and territories, civil society and the private sector to prioritize and implement programs to achieve Diabetes 360° targets and then sunset: a realistic and evidence-based approach that can work for Canada.
For a strategic investment of $150 million over seven years, the federal government can achieve at least $36 billion in cost reductions, ensure the future health and prosperity of Canadians, and truly make a difference for Canadians affected by diabetes, Canadians just like me.
Thank you.