Key issue: How will politicians address chronic diseases?

By Larry Matheis

Friday, Sept. 30, 2016 | 2 a.m.

As the United States heads into the final stretch of a very long election season, Nevadans need to make sure candidates and the media focus on issues that matter to our daily lives. Certainly, health care and the policies that candidates are proposing to address health care need to be a vital part of the discussion.

To that end, the Nevada Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease (PFCD) is working with its many partner groups to encourage Nevadans to ask candidates what they plan to do to address chronic diseases. Using television, radio, newspaper and outdoor advertising — along with participating in health fairs and engaging in other grassroots activities — the Nevada PFCD is working to bring the issue into the forefront of the political dialogue. The partnership’s message highlights the importance of addressing chronic disease in health care policies and the major impact that chronic diseases have on our lives, our health care spending and our productivity.

More than half of Nevada’s residents have at least one chronic disease and nearly 700,000 have more than one. Chronic diseases account for 7 of every 10 deaths in our state and 86 cents of every dollar spent on health care costs. And the problem is getting worse every year. For example, right now, projections are that 1 in 3 first-graders will develop diabetes during his or her lifetime.

Yet the news is not all bad. The Nevada PFCD released a study showing that simple changes in lifestyles and a focus on prevention and developing new treatments could save nearly 11,000 Nevada lives every year and cut spending on health care in our state by $55 billion over the next 15 years. Health care policies that encourage prevention, medical breakthroughs and providing treatment options are a major part of the cure.

Chronic conditions like diabetes, cancer and heart disease affect every one of us, whether we or a loved one suffer from one of those conditions. Given the impact of chronic disease on all Nevadans, we should be able to expect candidates to address the issue before they ask for our vote.

The Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease is a nonpartisan group and does not support any specific candidate or political party. As Chairman Dr. Ken Thorpe noted, the purpose of the national and state organizations is to “command the attention of our elected leaders to the spectrum of issues that chronic disease presents and to advocate for policies that will bridge gaps in health care and create opportunities that promote and enable better overall health for our population.”

The Nevada PFCD and its partner organizations will be working hard on all fronts this election season to ensure candidates address health care in a meaningful way. But advertising and advocacy campaigns won’t work without the vocal support of voters.

So the next time a candidate or campaign knocks on your door or calls to ask you for your vote, join us by asking in return, “What do you plan to do to fight chronic disease?”

Larry Matheis is a co-chairman of the Nevada Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease and the executive director of the Nevada Medical Center, a nonprofit corporation established to improve the health of Nevadans and Nevada’s health care system. He served as executive director of the Nevada State Medica