Health Minister Deb Matthews said Monday she is willing to work with the Ontario Lung Association to find ways to reduce cases of lung diseases such as asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
The association released data warning that the number of people in Ontario with asthma, COPD, chronic bronchitis, emphysema or lung cancer will double over 30 years to five million people if the government doesn't develop a strategy.
"The fact is millions of Ontarians are struggling to breathe," said George Habib, president and CEO of the Ontario Lung Association. "Much good work has been done, and we have seen some encouraging progress, but we can't stop now."
Ontario is scheduled to ban the burning of coal to generate electricity by 2014, which will help reduce air pollution significantly, and has already gone further than most jurisdictions to ban smoking, said Matthews.
"I think the Smoke Free Ontario strategy is really, really important," she said. "We know that far too many people are still smoking, too many young people are starting to smoke, and we've been working hard to bring down smoking rates."
The Lung Association is calling for an "action plan" that includes more spending in all areas of lung research and a recognition of the importance of prevention, detection and early intervention.
"A simple breathing test, called a spirometry, is already widely available but not routinely administered," the association said in a release. "By providing health care professionals with the support and resources they need to administer and interpret the test, the disease can be detected earlier."
The association said only two per cent of COPD patients currently have access to pulmonary rehabilitation, even though it can have "a significant impact" on their quality of life.
Making pulmonary rehab available to all those with moderate to severe COPD would decrease the average number of hospitalizations by 22 per cent and the number of days in hospital would be cut in half, said the association.
It also said that an effective model for asthma management is available only in some Ontario communities, even though it was developed for family doctors and other health care professionals.
"If all children with asthma were treated with this approach, 70 per cent fewer children would have to go to the emergency room because of their disease," said the association.
The government considers the association an "important partner," said Matthews, and is willing to discuss their recommendations with an eye to implementing them.
"We are absolutely committed to keeping Ontarians healthier because that's part of our strategy when it comes to health care," said Matthews. "If we can keep people healthier, keep them out of hospitals, that's what we need to do."
The Lung Association said it would "accept nothing less" than the government's commitment to an Ontario lung health action plan.
"Millions of lives depend on it," said Habib.
Canadian Press