Decrease Chronic Disease Burden
Almost one in four Saskatchewan residents live with chronic disease.
Chronic diseases generally cannot be prevented by vaccines or cured by medication, nor do they just disappear.
The leading chronic diseases in developed countries include arthritis, cardiovascular disease such as heart attack and stroke, cancer such as breast and colon cancer, diabetes, epilepsy, seizure, and obesity.
Background
The World Health Organization (WHO) projects that over the next 10 years more than two million people will die from chronic disease. Death from chronic disease will increase by 15 per cent – most markedly, deaths from diabetes will increase by 44 per cent.
WHO further estimates that an additional 2 per cent annual reduction in national – level chronic disease death rates in Canada over the next 10 years would result in an economic gain of $1 billion for the country.
In Saskatchewan
About 257,000 (or 23 per cent) of Saskatchewan residents have a least one of five chronic diseases (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes, ischemic heart disease, or heart failure).
USask has recruited a multi-cluster of specialists in specific areas of chronic disease (DM, heart failure, ischemic heart disease and neurological disorders).
How you can help
We need your help to support multiple projects to improve the quality of care of these chronic conditions. We expect each one of these projects to improve the quality of life, length of stay, survival and cost burden on the health care system.
This initiative will directly have an impact on the health of the people of this province who have chronic conditions.