Sustainability Issues - Health and Environment

SPENDING ON HEALTH
and ENVIRONMENT

A healthy population and a clean natural environment require making these goals important spending priorities. Sustainable development relies on balancing financial demands from different sectors, which is why government spending on health and environment, compared to overall economic growth is a useful indicator of sustainability.

As the following table illustrates, government spending on health care and environmental protection does not appear to be linked consistently with economic growth in Canada over the first half of the past decade. Although there is not a great deal of data, this appears to be particularly true for pollution control.

Rate of GDP and Government Expenditures on Health and Pollution Control

Year	GDP Growth (%)- All Developed Countries (Source: UN/DESA based on IMF, International Financial Statistics 1999)	GDP Growth (%) - Canada (Source: UN/DESA based on IMF, International Financial Statistics 1999)	Federal Health Spending - Year to year change (%) (Source: Canadian Institute for Health Information, 1999	Pollution Control Spending - Year to year change (%) (Source: Statistics Canada, 1999
1991	0.8	-1.9	8.5	no data
1992	1.6	0.9	5.3	baseline year
1993	0.8	2.3	2.7	-13.7
1994	2.6	4.7	2.2	7.0
1995	2.2	2.6	1.4	-23.3
1996	3.0	1.2	1.3	n.d.
1997	2.8	3.8	3.1	n.d.
1998	2.0	3.0	5.0	n.d.
1999	2.8	3.0	5.0	n.d.

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Sustainability Issues

Health & Environment Introduction

EXTERNAL LINKS

Economic burden of illness in Canada 1993

Agenda 21 and Health

Health Canada Sustainable Strategy

Incorporating Health into Environmental Assessments

Basic Health Indicators

Health Risks from Environmental Factors