Canadian Diabetes Strategy

Development of the Strategy

• National partnership
• Background & rationale
• Purpose
• Federal perspective
• Resources

A National Partnership

In 1999, to enable Canadians to benefit more fully from the considerable resources and expertise available across the country, the Government of Canada pledged $115 million over five years to the development of a Canadian Diabetes Strategy. Its partners in this national initiative include the provinces and territories, various national health bodies and interest groups, and Aboriginal communities across the country.

Background and Rationale

Diabetes has attracted increasing attention in recent years, from different organizations and levels of government. Most activities have been undertaken independently. However, diabetes is a complex health problem which cannot be addressed effectively by any single agency or sector of Canadian society. In reality, diabetes is a national challenge (and an international one, as recognized for well over a decade by the World Health Organization [13] ). This is the rationale behind the CDS, Canada's first-ever attempt to deal with diabetes comprehensively and collaboratively.

There is no "quick fix" for diabetes. The CDS partners believe that what is most needed at this time is a concerted, long-term approach to prevention and control, one that engages the efforts of all who have a stake in the issue -- the many Canadians affected by diabetes, their families, health care providers, health care institutions and workplaces, governments, voluntary organizations, the non-health sector and the public at large. Ideally, the many initiatives planned under the CDS will generate enough momentum and capacity to ensure that diabetes keeps a prominent place on the national public health agenda for as long as the need remains.

Purpose/Goal

The purpose of the CDS is to articulate and establish effective diabetes prevention and control strategies for Canada. This means building on what has already been accomplished and carrying it forward creatively. With access to the collective knowledge and experience of its various partners, the CDS is well positioned to determine where the needs and gaps lie, and to ensure that resources are deployed accordingly.

From the Federal perspective...

Its investment in the CDS allows the Government of Canada to move forward in three areas of vital importance:

• development of a health promotion-disease prevention strategy for the entire population
• care and treatment, and diabetes prevention for First Nations people on reserve and in Inuit communities
• improvement of national and regional data about diabetes and its complications.