Healthy Living, Youth and Seniors Minister, Jim Rondeau, announced that a chronic-disease prevention program will receive provincial funding on an ongoing basis.
Manitoba will provide $765,000 in annual funding for a chronic-disease prevention program on an ongoing basis and will supplement it with an additional $97,500 per year for three years targeted specifically at community-based tobacco-reduction activities, Healthy Living, Youth and Seniors Minister Jim Rondeau announced.
“This chronic-disease project proved very successful during an extensive demonstration period so we are integrating it into our ongoing programming. It is expected to help reduce chronic disease among Manitobans and make the health-care system more sustainable over the long term,” said Rondeau. “Both of these funding pieces support the efforts that individuals and communities are making to prevent disease and live healthier lives.”
Through the Healthy Together Now chronic-disease prevention initiative, 83 participating communities from across Manitoba have developed and implemented plans to reduce the three major modifiablerisk factors that lead to chronic disease: physical inactivity, unhealthy eating and smoking. The long-term goal of the program is to reduce the number of Manitobans affected by chronic disease.
The award-winning program is built on the concepts of partnership and collaboration. Projects are community initiated, planned and led to ensure the best fit with existing resources and the needs of a particular community. Regional health authorities co-ordinate the activities taking place within their regions and access funding on behalf of their communities. The overall initiative is supported by Manitoba Healthy Living, Youth and Seniors in partnership with non-governmental organizations working toward the same goal.
“Chronic-disease prevention requires a multi-pronged approach, particularly when it comes to tobacco use,” said Rondeau. “We have multiple programs in place to address various smoking-related issues. The funding announced today will further strengthen an important aspect of our strategy by increasing tobacco-use reduction activities at the community level.”
Through the five-year demonstration phase of the overall chronic-disease prevention project, more than 1,200 prevention activities were developed across the province, impacting approximately 330,000 Manitobans. With the continuation of the program, communities can build on their successes and the capacity that’s been developed to keep the momentum going, said Rondeau.
The Healthy Together Now program (previously called the Chronic Disease Prevention Initiative) builds on existing disease-prevention and health-promotion programs such as the healthy living teams in each regional health authority, the Manitoba in motion strategy, the Healthy Schools program and the provincial tobacco control strategy.
