Local health issues worse than provincial average

A new report shows residents of Hastings and Prince Edward counties smoke more and have more chronic health conditions than others in Ontario.

Public health officials hope to work with community partners to change that.

The Hastings Prince Edward Public Health report shows that the number of smokers at 28% is 11% higher than elsewhere in the province.

The number of people with arthritis, diabetes, high blood pressure and mood disorders is also higher.

Acting Medical Officer of Health Dr. Ian Gemmell told the Board of Health Wednesday the idea is to work with municipalities and school boards.

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Gemmell says many of these issues are not the direct responsibility of public health but do have an influence on what the health outcomes may be.

The report shows only one in four people in this area earn above $40,000 annually, and that’s below the provincial average.

A number of rural townships, including Tyendinaga Township, Tweed, and Bancroft are listed as high risk areas for low income households.

Gemmell told Quinte News, “If we can work with our partners, for example in social services and school boards and try to address some of the factors that are not directly the responsibility of public health but have an influence on health. If we can work with our partners to try to address some of those then our expectation would be there would be an impact on health as well.”

He said the factors in good health are what you would expect, “Don’t smoke, exercise reasonably, pay attention to nutrition, get proper sleep. These are the things that will help people t0 get healthier.”

Standards manager Veronica Montgomery, who presented the report, says it will help adapt the health unit’s programming.

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Dr. Gemmell pointed to the Healthy Child program as one that helps parents “provide a good foundation to a healthy lifestyle.”