Good health takes more than access to doctors and hospital beds it takes wealth too
Posted on August 26, 2012 in Health Policy Context
Source: Toronto Star — Authors: Editorial
TheStar.com – opinion/editorials
14 August 2012. Editorial
Will it be diabetes medication or dinner tonight? Will a prescription to combat high blood pressure get refilled this month, or is it time to pay the hydro bill? These are not choices that anyone should have to make, especially in an affluent country that takes pride in having universal health care and a decent social safety net.
But these are the ugly choices that too many of us face. More than 1 in 4 lower income Canadians have delayed or stopped buying prescription drugs and have skipped meals because they were short of money, a recent poll for the Canadian Medical Association found.
No wonder there is such a gap between rich and poor Canadians when it comes to health. More worrisome still, the poll found that the gap appears to be growing, with those who earn $30,000 or less reporting poorer health and more frequent use of medical services than those who earn $60,000 or more.
Commendably, Canada’s doctors have used their annual meeting in Yellowknife this week to forcefully draw attention to this troubling health gap. It’s good to see them taking this on at a time when our political leaders are focused on reducing budget deficits.
Even in times of austerity, Ottawa and the provincial governments are quick to reassure the public that health care spending will be protected. But health and health care are not one and the same thing. Just paying for doctors and hospitals does not necessarily lead to positive or equal health outcomes for everyone.
Getting exercise, eating well, properly managing chronic illnesses, butting out — all these practices contribute greatly to overall health. And they all have more to do with income, education and working and living conditions than sheer access to health care.
Yet, despite all the evidence about these “social determinants” of health, governments have failed to fund accordingly. At the federal level Health Minister Leona Aglukkag expects credit for continuing with annual 6 per cent increases in health transfers to the provinces until 2017. But at the same time her colleague Human Resources Minister Diane Finley has abdicated responsibility for affordable housing in this country, leaving many poor Canadians scrimping on medication, food, and other necessities that affect their health just to pay the rent.
Here in Ontario the last provincial budget nipped and tucked just about everything to try to keep health care funding stable, with predictable results. People living on social assistance had to make do with a minuscule 1 per cent increase. That’s far outstripped by the rising cost of food, housing and other necessities, leaving the poor and those on disability support even worse off than before. As Canada’s doctors know, that’s not conducive to good health.
It’s a false economy, too. The link between poverty and ill health is well established. By not addressing the root economic and social causes of ill health we’re just adding to health care bills down the line.
Canadians should be able to expect that all citizens have an equal shot at being healthy. Doctors are reminding us that they alone cannot make that happen. It’s time politicians stopped talking a big game on health care and started acting on what the evidence shows.
Tags: Health, ideology, mental Health, poverty, standard of living
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One Response to “Good health takes more than access to doctors and hospital beds it takes wealth too”
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Recent Comments
Wealth is always a factor to maintain good health. Take for instance the privatized and
insured American health care which causes the richest Americans access to the best treatments, hospitals and doctors. The wealthy have always had and will continue to have the widest range of access to address their health concerns. With a socialist health care system more services are available to everyone, but the more money one has still determines a better health as the wealthy have access to other services besides health care such as nutritious foods, gyms, nutritionists, therapists(chiropractors), well-being experts and
specialists. Whereas the poor in a socialist health care have access to the health care aspects of society well missing out on the resources that make up the overall health of a person that could prevent their health from deteriorating and the amount of hospital visits the poor and sick would be subject too. The people of the lower income do not have access to a lot of these resources which impacts their health and well-being.
A better health care system would examine prevention aspects of diseases and provide everyone with access to alternatives. By only treating people when they are sick or dying rather than before they acquire a disease the health care sector is only looking at one aspect of health care. A better system would look at the aspects that increase poor health and hospital visits rather then only trying to fix the health problems when they’ve escalated into hospitalization.