A commentary by a resident of Victoria.
I am a person living with a disability, in my case multiple sclerosis. MS is a chronic autoimmune disease that affects my central nervous system and can cause serious disability.
When I was first diagnosed, I had a doctor and a neurologist who monitored the progress of my disease. While they were busy monitoring things, I took responsibility for my health and began to exercise to give me a fighting chance.
I was afraid I would become debilitated and wouldn’t be able to walk or see. I was terrified by the thought of neuropathic pain and the probability that, one day, I may not be able to work and would require constant home care.
Heat is known to trigger MS attacks, so it was tricky finding just the right exercise. My go-to routine became swimming, as it allows me to stay cool when my body overheats from workouts.
I have been swimming as a way of managing MS for close to 20 years. To this day, I have not had to take costly medications, nor have I required a caregiver.
A while back, I lost my doctor and my neurologist. It’s just me and swimming now; that’s all I have left to manage this wretched disease.
Throughout the summer, I swim in the lakes and ocean. It’s too cold to swim outside for an hour or more each day in the winter.
Sadly, the City of Victoria has neglected our pool. They have known for more than a decade about the need to replace it but chose to focus elsewhere, repeatedly setting aside decisions. This has led to the real risk of having no pool, as replacement costs have ballooned from $60 million to $200 million, and we now require a referendum for a loan.
I worry that people look only at the cost of the pool and don’t see the savings to health care. I don’t think many people realize pools reduce doctor and hospital visits, and lessen overall healthcare costs. Reducing health-care costs seems like something the province could benefit from.
Diabetes, for example, costs British Columbia approximately $642 million each year in direct health costs. Victoria alone diagnoses more than 1,000 new people annually.
The city’s annual portion of diabetes health cost is about $10 million. Swimming can reduce the rate of type 2 diabetes by up to 70%. Imagine reducing British Columbia’s diabetes health cost from $642 million to $190 million each year — that’s a lot of money the province could use elsewhere.
Swimming lowers the risk of some cancers by up to 30%, depression by 16% and heart disease by up to 30%. Swimming and other forms of exercise play a key role in lowering health costs and reducing our need for doctor and hospital visits.
The province’s current health-care budget is $31 billion annually. I shudder to think how much more it would be if we didn’t have pools and recreation centres to help us manage our health.
In my case, if I couldn’t swim, taxpayers might find themselves footing the bill for more than $12,000 in managed care and between $10,000 and $60,000 for MS medication annually — plus I would no longer be contributing to the tax base.
It’s also likely other diseases, like heart disease or diabetes, would develop, burdening taxpayers with even more in health costs and doctor time.
Crystal Pool receives more than 1,000 visitors a day and about 400,000 visits a year. There are about 1,000 club users who swim on average three times per week.
It has been estimated that regular exercise saves $2,500 in health costs per person annually. If we assume as few as 4,000 people use Crystal Pool on a regular basis, the saving is $10 million in health costs for one year or $300 million for 30 years — and that’s just for Victoria.
This figure is precisely why governments have historically invested in swimming pools and recreation centres and should continue to invest — these facilities keep health costs down.
The province should recognize the vital role Crystal Pool and Recreation Centre plays in our health-care system. They should provide a significant grant for the new pool and help us get to a yes vote at our upcoming referendum.
Those of us who self-manage our health, and diseases, should be supported in our efforts. Not supporting us will serve only to exacerbate the damage to our ailing health-care system by increasing the need for doctors and raising health-care costs.
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