Healthcare Inequality In Canada

The disproportionate, poor health outcomes experienced by First Nations Canadians have been attributed to an uncoordinated and fragmented health care system. This system is rooted in colonial legislation and social policies that have created jurisdictional ambiguity and long-standing confusion among federal, provincial and First Nations governments as to who is responsible for First Nations health care (Kelly, 2011; Lavoie, 2013). The responsibility of healthcare resembles a “political football and while it is being passed back and forth, the health status of First Nations people remains the lowest of any segment of the population (Cook, 2011, p. 40). Despite attempts over the last 40 years to address this pressing social issue, the absence

The health of Aboriginal people in Canada is both a tragedy and a crisis (Aboriginal Affairs and North Development Canada, 2010). Aboriginals have a higher rate of death among aboriginal babies, twice the national average, higher rate of Infectious diseases example gastrointestinal infections to tuberculosis, and chronic and degenerative diseases such as cancer and heart disease are affecting more aboriginal people than they once did (AANDC, 2010). Availability of important medical facility is not enough to accommodate the growing medical needs of Aboriginals. A socioeconomic and cultural issue also hinders the access of aboriginals to access health care in the community.

In order to propogate the knowledge of above determinants and improve health status of Canadians, Health Canada has set up a number of community heath organizations and agencies. The work of these agencies can consist of creating awareness, improving socio-economic status, advocating better working conditions and so on. Unfortunately, many groups such as aboriginal people, recent immigrants and people with disabilities experience challenges in accessing these resources and still cotinue to lead an unhealthy life.

Although the health of some Aboriginal peoples is gradually improving, it is generally still poorer than the health of non-Aboriginal peoples living in Ontario. The Aboriginal Peoples Survey indicates that the most commonly reported chronic health conditions for Aboriginal peoples in Ontario over 15 years of age and living off reserve are: arthritis or rheumatism, high blood pressure, asthma, stomach problems, diabetes, and heart problems. (Noelle Spotton. 2001, page. 20)

Public Policies strive to protect all citizens across the nation, includes low-income citizens who often go unrecognized in society. To make sure this happens, legislature has put forth the “The Canada Health Act”, which requires the provincial government to meet certain expectations regarding public-health care and insurance plans. Though this act states that health services are free and accessible facilities, issues arise when citizens need urgent medical attention but appointment are unavailable until weeks later. Many of these poor individuals cannot afford to pay the extra amount to receive faster care as oppose to their rich counterparts.

Under Canada’s healthcare system, citizens are provided with primary care and medical treatments, as well as easy access to hospitals, clinics, and any other additional medical services. Regardless of annual income, this system allows all Canadian citizens access to medical services without immediate pay. Canada is fortunate to have a free healthcare plan since this necessity comes at a substantial expense for people living in the United States of America. For instance, the Commonwealth Fund's Health Insurance Survey mentions that “80 million people, around 43% of America's working-age adults, did not go to the doctor or access other medical services because of the cost” (Luhby). Evidently, Canada’s healthcare system is notorious in supporting the demands of the population, and creating a healthy and happy society at a manageable cost.

While many may argue that the Canadian health care system provides equal treatment to every Canadian, evidence shows that this is not the case. There are major discrepancies within the system regarding Indigenous people that need to be addressed including several factors such as: housing issues, stereotypes Aboriginals face and the lack of Aboriginal doctors.

The inequalities in today’s indigenous communities are still strongly evident. Heard, Khoo & Birrell (2009), argued that while there has been an attempt in narrowing the gap between Indigenous and non Indigenous Australians, a barrier still exists in appropriate health care reaching indigenous people. The Indigenous people believe, health is more than the individual, it is

     In the past, Canada’s government-funded, universally accessible, health care system has been praised and admired both at home and abroad as one of the finest in the world. A great source of pride and comfort for many Canadians is that it is based on five fundamental principles. Principles that are a reflection of the values held by Canadian citizens since the formation of Medicare in 1966. These principles were reinforced in the Canada Health Act, (CHA), of 1984 and state that the Canadian system is universal, accessible, portable, comprehensive and non-profit.

The Indian Health Transfer Policy (1989) and the subsequent establishment of the First Nations and Inuit Health Branch of Health Canada are supposed offers by the federal government to First Nations communities to gradually transfer the control of resources for health programs over to the community (Lavoie, et al., 2007). Essentially, however, the continued division of authority over public health “has created a non-system” (Cook, p. 40), a “policy patchwork [that] perpetuates confusion…[and] jurisdictional divide [among dozens of health care systems] at the federal, provincial and First Nation community levels” (Lavoie & Gervais, 2013) that continue to marginalize Aboriginal people in mainstream health-care systems. Documents such as the

As Perry Bellegarde, Chief of the Assembly of First Nations said, Trudeau’s claims finally allow for an optimistic view of the general aboriginal community’s future (Mas, 2015). Indeed, it is promising to witness the government taking action towards addressing issues such as lack of funding in aboriginal education, as it is these issues along with indecent access to fresh produce or to proper entertainment, which most often leads to both physical and mental health problems in First Nation communities. Furthermore, although most of the Canadian population is aware of the health issues faced by aboriginal communities, what seems to be lesser known is that the cause of those issues go far beyond maladaptive genes. Consequently, measures addressing the socioeconomic risk factors, such as access to adequate health services, must be taken as soon as possible.

These were five women who acted as activist and was award and recognize in Canada for making Canada a better place to live. The five incidents that involved gender inequality against women. .Constance Backhouse exposed inequalities, for women and other oppressed groups in Canada. Then, Nahanni Fontaine is a special advisor on aboriginal women's Issues for the Aboriginal Issues. Susan Kathryn Shiner highlighting women's inequality as a root cause of violence against women as an issue, as she became aware of incidents of inequality she worked for social change. Last but no leased Julie Lalonde who studied the impact of poverty and isolation on elderly women making a difference in improving the lives of women and girls to end sexual assault and

The United States is world renowned for having the best health care if not the most accessible. Citizens have at their disposal a plethora of hospitals, physicians, and therapists to improve their well-being. Statistical data was taken back in 2010 under the Central Texas Region and studied health care coverage and income in regards to the community. The data displayed in the surveys heavily suggest that income/ health in general have a high correlation. The issue that arose with the given data imply that those who are on the lower end of the income spectrum subsequently have no health care coverage and poorer health than those with higher income. In any case with high correlation there are a number of factors influencing the statistical evidence, and in this case sociological barriers are present in regards of inequality and health care.

The healthcare services variations confronted by the First Nations, Métis and the Inuit individuals as contrasted and the non-Aboriginal groups need to be tended to. As indicated by Smylie and Anderson (2006), to address the healthcare needs of this helpless groups, there is have to change their health key determinants and additionally their living conditions.

Chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) affects all Canadians but among the Aboriginal population, the disease pattern and risk factors are different with higher prevalence rates among Aboriginal peoples (Douglas, 2014, p.145). Chronic disease risk factors includes factors such as diet, physical activity which individuals have control over while some other factors individuals have limited control over include the living environment, air pollution, housing, geographical locations, and underlying variables such as employment status, income and poverty similarly influence these factors. All these risk factors interplay to impact the patterns and rates of chronic diseases in all populations