Ontario Health Minister Christine Elliott has fired back at 10 former health ministers who wrote to her urging the government halt cutbacks to public health.In a statement released Thursday, Elliott said Ontario´s auditor general has found that `public health units are poorly co-ordinated and duplicating work,` and `not delivering consistent service.``Worse yet, the auditor general reported that since 2014 about one-third of public health units have undertaken research on a number of common topics, including sugar-sweetened beverages, energy drinks, e-cigarettes and alcohol,` Elliott also said.`All told, it´s clear that there are significant opportunities to more efficiently deliver public health while protecting and improving vital programs.`The letter from the former ministers warned that clawbacks to public health put the `prosperity of our communities and of our entire province at risk,` adding such cuts `make no sense ... This cutting of public health services cannot go forward.`Dr. Helena Jaczek, a former Liberal health minister who also served as the medical officer of health in York Region, said at Queen´s Park on Thursday that `public health has been the backbone of preventing acute infectious disease, chronic disease` and saves money down the line.Read more:Ontario health minister´s `modernization´ plan: cut now, figure out the details laterOpinion | How Ontario´s cuts to public health will hurt our patientsLawyers and doctors join forces to battle legal aid cuts for refugees, immigrantsToronto Councillor Joe Cressy, who chairs the city´s board of health, said the government announced the cuts `without warning, without consultation and without any notice they´re retroactive` when public health units are already mid-way into their fiscal year.The Ford government changes make Ontario `the only province in all of Canada, the only one that doesn´t fund public health at 100 per cent - the only one,` Cressy said. `In the wake of SARS and Walkerton, based on ...
|
