Mr. Speaker, this Assembly has talked about the importance of supporting residents to be healthy, educated and free from poverty. I think most people in our territory will agree.
We need to help our children, families and communities get to a place where they feel good, can meet their own needs and contribute in a positive way to our society.
We’ve talked about the need to use prevention, education and awareness in making this happen. Today I will speak about the approach we want to take through the health and social services system to reach this goal.
Prevention is basically about making positive, healthy choices in the way we live our lives. I often talk about the four pillars of healthy living: eat healthy foods, get exercise, don’t smoke, and drink in moderation. These are all cornerstones of the government’s Healthy Choices Framework, and the Department of Health and Social Services works closely with other departments to promote these positive choices. Recently, Members of this House joined me in the launch of the My Voice, My Choice campaign. It gets NWT youth talking about addictions and alcohol abuse in their communities. If there is one thing that comes across in the stories these kids are telling, it is that they know what the issues are in their communities. They know what the problems are; we all do. They also make the connections between being active, eating right, avoiding alcohol and other drugs, and feeling well.
Over the next few weeks we will roll out other programs to support healthy choices. Drop the Pop will kick off in 40 schools. March is Nutrition Month, and during that time we will work closely with regional authorities and the Northern Nutrition Association to promote healthy eating through local activities such as cooking programs and grocery store tours. And we are working on a new anti-smoking campaign to encourage adults to be good role models for their children.
These investments are important and we have seen positive results from campaigns like Don’t Be a Butthead. Starting tomorrow, Stanton Hospital, including its grounds, will be a non-smoking zone. But real change has to start at the community level. Communities are essential in making prevention work. I have been travelling around the territory since I became Minister of Health and Social Services, and I have heard that we need to involve communities in designing and delivering programs that speak to local issues and priorities. Over the coming weeks and months I intend to reach out to communities, to Aboriginal leadership and to other stakeholders and invite them to partner with the department to find effective ways to encourage
healthy choices, approaches based on local needs and priorities.
Prevention and health promotion activities are not only the right thing to do, they are essential if we want to improve the health status of our population and keep our system sustainable. I look forward to keeping you all up to date as our work in this area progresses. Thank you.