Article August 13, 1990 Issue

SECOND THOUGHT

Looking again at news and commentary

"Understanding health: Canada leads the way" by John Godfrey— (Toronto), November 3, 1989

The Financial Post

"What makes us healthy? Ambrose Hearn, a deputy minister of health in Newfoundland, once answered the question by citing four factors: (1) clean water, (2) good food, (3) education, (4) employment....

"Now a major new study being undertaken by the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research is confirming the essence of Hearn's observations: Our ever-expanding and costly health care system plays a relatively minor role in determining who among us is healthy and who is not.

"We know that health care is consuming an ever-greater portion of public expenditures in Canada and elsewhere. In the U.S., health care costs amount to 12% of gross national product. What the institute's health program is already indicating is that the way to produce a healthier population may not lie in spending ever-greater sums of money on hospitals and doctors.

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