The Heart and Stroke Foundation (HSF) is concerned with the lack of any substantive funding in support of heart health initiatives as outlined in today's 2010 Federal Budget.
"The federal government claims the budget is all about fiscal sustainability and economic growth and at the same time does virtually nothing to address the tidal wave of chronic diseases facing this country," says Sally Brown, CEO of the Heart and Stroke Foundation. "Cardiovascular disease alone costs the Canadian economy over $22 billion per year in health care costs and lost productivity and the worst is yet to come given the poor heart health of boomers and young Canadians."
Despite previous commitments from this government, the budget has failed to adequately address heart disease and stroke - the leading cause of death of women and men in this country, and the leading cause of hospitalizations and prescription drug costs.
The Foundation's 2010 annual report on the health of Canadians warned that a "perfect storm" of risk factors and demographic changes are converging to create an unprecedented burden, leaving no Canadian young or old unaffected. In addition, these risk factors contribute to other vascular related diseases including diabetes, chronic kidney disease, dementia, Alzheimer's, macular degeneration (partial blindness), and possibly multiple sclerosis.