Back in November, Northern Health released a report examining the state of men’s health in northern BC, and the finding weren’t good. The report said that men in northern BC have much higher rates of various medical problems than women, including obesity and cancer, and that more needs to be done to address the health of men and boys. Now Northern Health is hoping to see that happen by offering 15 grants of $1,000 to people who want to start an organization of program that would benefit men’s health.
Is this Bowering serious … If he wasn’t pissing $15,000 away on a PR stunt I’d say this is just a bad joke. This is the same organization that closed down the Healthy Heart program in Prince Rupert. The Healthy Heart program was a very effective program which educated men on diet, exercise and ways to beat the lifestyle choices that result in serious health issues.
Ask any medical professional in this area and they will tell you that the First Nations peoples have had alarming spikes in heart disease and diabetes since they’ve abandoned their traditional diets. The one program in our area that was an effective tool to educate men on how to make better lifestyle choices was sacrificed in the name of their centralized bureaucracy.
Leaving heart disease, diabetes and obesity aside, If Northern Health and those in power were really interested in men’s health issues … How about making detox centers, drug and alcohol treatment available in our community.
Yeah Mr. Bowering, your one time feel good donation of 15,000 is going to go a long way to nothing.