April 4, 2005 – Health: individual or collective responsibility? The role of the state: prevention or cure? Who decides: bureaucrats, doctors, politicians or citizens?
These are the kinds of questions that will be addressed in the framework of the Rendez-vous sur la santé, organized by the Institut du Nouveau Monde (INM), which is intended to be a real strategic reflection on the choices of society in terms of health.
Traveling in nine cities and regions of Quebec, this forum allows citizens to familiarize themselves with the various dilemmas facing advanced societies, and to speak out on solutions. The results of these deliberations, which bring together experts, network players and ordinary citizens, will be sent to the Government of Quebec, which is following this debate with attentive ear.
However, reading the documents posted on the INM website1, we see that alternative and complementary medicines are not really one of the main concerns of the players in the system.
Invigorating debates
On March 12, a first meeting brought together nearly a hundred participants gathered in five different cities and connected by videoconference.
Everyone then recognized the importance of the determinants of health such as education, poverty, the environment and lifestyle. However, they found that the health care system remains built around hospital, disease and pressing issues. To start making a difference, the participants recommended that the budget of the Ministry of Health and Social Services devoted to prevention be increased from 2.5% to 5% of the total budget, without increasing it.
In view of the enormous budgetary constraints facing the system, one can already imagine that such a relatively modest measure could have major consequences on the priorities of the system and lead to heated debates in society.
Upcoming meetings
The next meeting is scheduled for April 9. Then, on May 6 and 7 in Montreal, the conclusion of the Rendez-vous sur la santé will take the form of a national forum during which the proposals of the previous meetings will be debated in a deliberative assembly.
All citizens can participate in these meetings.
Christian Lamontagne – PasseportSanté.net
1. To access the site of the Institut du Nouveau Monde: http://www.inm.qc.ca/index.do.