Project: Demonstration of the Proposed National Diabetes Surveillance System in the Prairie Provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba

Health Infostructure Support Program

Background

Diabetes is recognized as a major public health problem and recent comparative national surveys show prevalence rates are on the increase. An estimated 1.5 million Canadians are diabetic, with rates of diabetes among First Nations peoples triple those found in the general population. Diabetes is a major cause of debilitating complications such as heart disease, blindness, kidney failure, and limb amputations.

Project Description

This is an 18-month project to test a planned National Diabetes Surveillance System (NDSS) in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta. These provinces have experience with databases for the purpose of surveillance, and therefore, already have some basic infrastructure. While the data submitted by each province will vary, the project will attempt to standardize data in order to create comparative health information, eventually at a national level, through a central site.

Project Funding under HISP: $140,000.00

Project Management: University of Alberta

For further information contact:

Dr. Tom Noseworthy
Dept. of Public Health Sciences
University of Alberta
13-103 CSB
Edmonton, Alberta
T6G 2G3
Tel: (780) 492-6408
Fax: (780) 492-0364
tom.noseworthy@ualberta.ca