Archive for the ‘Health Debates’ Category

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The pandemic worsened access to medicine for close to 1 in 5 people

Wednesday, November 16th, 2022

Percentages of people reporting not having prescription insurance to cover medication cost was higher among immigrants (29%) relative to non-immigrants (17%) and among racialized persons (29%) relative to non-racialized and non-Indigenous persons (17%)… The new findings should instill added urgency in the federal government which has promised to make progress on a national universal pharmacare program

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Prescription for a broken health care system can’t be more politics

Sunday, November 13th, 2022

Federal Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos arrived promising an increase in health care transfers to the provinces in return for agreement on national health care indicators and creation of a health care data system. Duclos left Vancouver blaming premiers for undercutting the work of their health ministers by issuing a statement that the Vancouver meeting was a failure, even as the meeting was ongoing.

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Viral infections including COVID are among the important causes of dementia – one more reason to consider vaccination

Monday, October 3rd, 2022

More than 150,000 people with COVID and 11 million controls have been involved in a study of long-term consequences of acute COVID infection. A year after infection, there was an overall 40% higher risk (an additional 71 cases per 1000 people) of neurologic disorders, including memory problems (80% higher risk) and Alzheimer’s disease (two-fold higher risk). These risks were elevated even among those not hospitalised for acute COVID.

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Ontario’s hospitals and long-term care are in crisis. Pretending they aren’t won’t solve anything

Wednesday, September 21st, 2022

While hospitals have long been permitted to impose daily charges for patients who overstay — and other provinces already allow it — the latest legislation and regulations will legitimatize the practice… These measures aren’t the end of the world. Nor will they end hallway medicine. More than health-care crisis management, there is an element of political “issues management” at play. The government must be seen to be doing something — anything.

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Don’t be scared into supporting privatized health care

Monday, September 12th, 2022

The privatization options will not begin to address the problems of a demoralized and depleted health care workforce and the overzealous constraints on public health care spending and will have negative consequences for both equity and efficiency. Debating private care options is a wasteful distraction.

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How will Canada expand a health-care system that’s already struggling?

Saturday, September 10th, 2022

Everyone should have access to routine dental care and vision care and necessary medications — and other things, like mental-health supports and physiotherapy… This is important on humanitarian grounds. It would also, though, optimize the primary-care system: a person who is kept out of hospital by proper dental care means one more bed available for someone who truly needs it. 

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Canada’s new dental care plan will be tangible and popular: MP Don Davies

Wednesday, August 31st, 2022

While Conservative politicians like Pierre Poilievre complain about the cost of a public dental care plan, Davies notes that delivering universal health care is actually cheaper. “We have been coasting on past glories for decades,” said Davies. “Yes, we have excellent care through hospitals and physicians, but we have a two-tiered, US-style access to care for dental care, prescription drugs, eye care, auditory care, and mental health care.” 

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Is it really an ER when it opens and closes constantly, or is it just a ‘room’?

Friday, August 12th, 2022

Ontario will “take bold action.” What else could this mean but the right-wing dream that never dies: privatizing public health care, on the model of highly profitable long-term-care homes… You can sense a new zeitgeist today in the rejection of neo-liberal globalization by the same parties in the U.S., U.K. and Canada that ushered it in. And in an openness to larger public activity on COVID and climate change.

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How do we ‘fix’ Canadian health care? Not by forcing patients to pay

Thursday, July 7th, 2022

While we undoubtedly need to invest more public funds in our health care system, we need to do it transparently and strategically… Those looking to hand our health care system to corporate investors see a lucrative opportunity in private pay health care. It’s a seemingly simple and neat solution — but it’s wrong. If the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that we need our publicly funded health care system to be there for all of us.

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‘Fixing’ emergency department wait times starts with investing in a strong primary care system

Friday, June 24th, 2022

Access to timely health care is predicated on a robust primary care system that is adequately staffed and supported. As a provider who has experienced the pressures faced by both the primary and acute care settings, it is clear that investing in team-based primary care and prioritizing access to family physicians is a necessary priority to address the crisis in our emergency departments.

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