[homeles_ot-l] FW: Poverty is making Canadians sick; raising incomes the best prescription- WI research

[Lynne Browne]

FYI…Lynne Browne

Coordinator, Alliance to End Homelessness (ATEH)
147 Besserer Street, Ottawa, ON K1N 6A7 
HYPERLINK "mailto:lbrowne at ysb.on.ca"lbrowne at ysb.on.ca,  613-241-7913 ext 205

www.endhomelessnessottawa.ca  

   _____  

From: hhno-on-owner at povnet.org [mailto:hhno-on-owner at povnet.org] On Behalf
Of Michael Shapcott
Sent: December 2, 2008 11:18 AM
To: nhhn-can at povnet.org; hhno-on at povnet.org
Subject: [hhno-on] WI research: Poverty is making Canadians sick; raising
incomes the best prescription

 

Poverty is making Canadians sick, robbing hundreds of thousands of their
health and leading to widespread preventable illness and creating huge costs
for the health care system. This is the conclusion of powerful new
tipping-point research released today by the Wellesley Institute and the
Community Social Planning Council of Toronto.  For the first time, the study
uses Canadian Community Health Survey and income files to paint the most
comprehensive picture to date of our nation’s health.

 

“High income does not guarantee good health, but low income almost
inevitably ensures poor health and significant health inequity in Canada,”
reports Dr. Ernie Lightman, lead researcher for the new study.  Poverty is
triggering a devastating health crisis among lower-income people, but the
research shows that raising incomes leads to better health.

 

“This important new research establishes in the most complete way the strong
link between low income and poor health,” says Rick Blickstead, CEO of the
Wellesley Institute, which co-sponsored the study. “Prof. Lightman and his
colleagues have demonstrated that health equity is truly an issue of
national significance. The results confirm for the first time that
relatively small increases in incomes of poor Canadians will lead to
substantial increases in their health.” 

 

Using sophisticated multivariate analysis, the researchers demonstrate that
every $1,000 increase in income leads to substantial increases in health.
Prof. Lightman and his research colleagues, Andrew Mitchell and Beth Wilson,
found that the poorest one-fifth of Canadians, when compared to the richest
twenty percent, has: more than double the rate of diabetes and heart
disease; a sixty percent greater rate of two or more chronic health
conditions; more than three times the rate of bronchitis; nearly double the
rate of arthritis or rheumatism. 

 

The Wellesley Institute is a national leader in pressing for practical and
effective strategies to reduce the health gaps among Canadians. “In our work
at the local, provincial and national levels, we are calling on governments
to take pragmatic steps to raise the incomes of the poorest people. There
are a variety of policy options – income transfers, tax policies, market
solutions. This research shows that the option of doing nothing is no longer
viable,” says Blickstead. 

 

The full report, plus detailed data tables and more info on health equity,
is available on-line at www.wellesleyinstitute.com

 

 

* * *

 

Michael Shapcott, Director of Community Engagement

The Wellesley Institute, 45 Charles Street East - #101

Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M4Y 1S2

Telephone - 416-972-1010, x231

Mobile - 416-605-8316

Facsimile - 416-921-7228

HYPERLINK "http://www.wellesleyinstitute.com"www.wellesleyinstitute.com

 


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