Thank you for the opportunity, Madam Chair, to address the standing committee with regard to the Public Health Agency of Canada's role in addressing diabetes and other chronic diseases in Canada.
Our role is threefold: to obtain data to better understand the patterns and trends related to chronic diseases; to gather, generate, and share evidence to inform policies and programs; and to design, test, and scale up innovative interventions to prevent chronic disease. We do this in collaboration with partners from within and outside the health sector.
Diabetes, as you know, is a chronic condition that affects Canadians of all ages. Each year, close to 200,000 Canadians are newly diagnosed with diabetes, and approximately 90% of those have type 2. Currently, about three million Canadians are living with diagnosed diabetes, and with the growth and aging of the Canadian population, the number of Canadians living with diabetes is expected to continue to increase in the coming years.
Some Canadians are at increased risk of diabetes, such as first nations, Métis peoples, and immigrants. There are higher rates of diabetes among Canadians with lower incomes and education. For example, if the prevalence of diabetes among adults who have not completed high school were as low as that of university graduates, we would see 180,500 fewer cases of diabetes in Canada.
Diabetes and many other chronic diseases, such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, and chronic respiratory diseases, are largely preventable. Scientific evidence demonstrates that by eating healthier, increasing physical activity, not smoking, and moderating alcohol use, the onset of many chronic diseases can be prevented or delayed. That is why the Public Health Agency of Canada takes an integrated approach to promote healthy living and prevent chronic disease.
Through our health surveillance function, we are able to better understand the impact of chronic diseases and risk and protective factors. For instance, in collaboration with all provinces and territories, we conduct national surveillance of diabetes and 20 other chronic conditions to support the planning and evaluation of related policies and programs.
The Pan-Canadian Health Inequalities Reporting Initiative includes new insights into how diabetes impacts different groups of Canadians in different contexts. Products include an interactive online data pool and a narrative report on key health inequalities in Canada. This initiative is a partnership between the Public Health Agency of Canada, the provinces and territories, Statistics Canada, the Canadian Institute for Health Information and the First Nations Information Governance Centre.
We recognize that innovative solutions and partnerships with health and other sectors are needed to better address the complex challenges of chronic disease prevention. The Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care develops evidence-based clinical practice guidelines to support Canadian primary care providers. The Task Force published recommendations on screening for type 2 diabetes in 2012. The Public Health Agency of Canada funds and provides scientific support to this independent arms-length body.
To help Canadians understand their risk factors and motivate them to make lifestyle changes to prevent diabetes, the Public Health Agency of Canada has developed CANRISK. It is a questionnaire that provides an individual risk score and guidance on how to reduce risk for diabetes. CANRISK is accessible to Canadians through partnerships with Diabetes Canada as well as with Shoppers Drug Mart, Pharmasave, Rexall, Loblaws and others.
Since its launch in 2013, our multisectoral partnerships approach to promote healthy living and prevent chronic disease has invested $73 million and leveraged another $57 million in non-government sources to support innovative interventions that address the common risk factors that underlie major chronic diseases, including diabetes.
For example, Play for Prevention is a Right to Play and Maple Leaf Sports Entertainment Foundation project, which uses an activity-based approach to youth empowerment to address diabetes prevention in urban indigenous peoples. Trained community mentors plan and lead events that have engaged over 1,000 children and youth in 16 cities across Ontario, Alberta, and British Columbia in helping active lifestyle programming.
The healthy weights initiative is a culturally adapted community-specific partnership with Alliance Wellness and Rehabilitation Inc., the YMCA, and the University of Saskatchewan. It is an evidence-based program for adults, which includes physical activity support, nutrition education, and social supports. It has demonstrated significant improvements to address unhealthy weights and encourage a healthier lifestyle.
In addition, budget 2018 proposed to provide an additional $25 million over five years, starting in 2018-19, for Participaction to increase participation in daily physical activity among Canadians.
The Public Health Agency of Canada works closely with Government of Canada partners such as Health Canada and Indigenous Services Canada.
Scientific research has established again and again that poor diet is a primary risk factor for these conditions. This is why Health Canada launched the comprehensive Healthy Eating Strategy in October 2016. This is made up of complementary mutually-reinforcing initiatives which will make it easier for Canadians to make healthier choices for themselves and for their families. The strategy includes important mandate commitments to promote public health by restricting the marketing of unhealthy foods to children, eliminating trans fat and reducing salt, and improving labelling on packaged foods, including front-of-pack labelling initiatives.
The Public Health Agency of Canada also collaborates with federal, provincial and territorial partners. For example, since the endorsement by ministers of the Declaration on Prevention and Promotion in 2010, we have partnered on initiatives to promote healthy weights and curb childhood obesity.
We are now working towards a common vision and collaborative approaches to support Canadians to move more and sit less.
In addition, we collaborate globally, contributing to and learning from the global evidence base, as a World Health Organization collaborating centre on non-communicable disease policy.
In closing, I want to thank the Standing Committee on Health for examining diabetes strategies in Canada and abroad. Through data, evidence, tools, innovation, and partnerships, the Public Health Agency of Canada is advancing our collective efforts to prevent diabetes and other chronic conditions among Canadians.
We'd be pleased to answer any questions you may have and look forward to reading your report.
