Sujoy’s view
How do Canadians perceive their quality of health care? Some would say it’s the best in the world, but I’m usually not a fan of such celebratory claims; it implies that having the best care means we don’t have to improve on it, and that’s certainly not the case in Canada. In fact, a recent survey by the Conference Board of Canada ranked our health care system as tenth out of sixteen developed nations, the same ranking as last year. When you think of the problems of Canadian health care, issues such as wait times, availability of doctors (family physicians in particular) and cost are commonly discussed as things we need to work on as a society. I agree that there is always room for improvement in health care. Certainly there are regions, particularly in northern and Aboriginal communities where doctors are unwilling to settle compared to large urban centres. How then are these regions meant to be served equitably with quality care? Part of the answer may come from the culture of curative medicine which is such a large part of health care today, rather than preventative medicine. Campaigns for preventing teenagers from smoking or encouraging a balanced diet, and active living are so important to health care over all – and they do work well as we have seen that smoking has become more and more taboo; but there is still a huge need for awareness about these problems.
Costs are driven up by health problems associated with these lifestyle choices, and if we want a higher level of care we need to encourage preventative medicine practices. Furthermore, on the topic of educating the public, they need to be made aware of what constitutes a visit to the doctor. Too often emergency rooms are crowded with people who have a cold, or something completely trivial – it’s an asymmetry of knowledge and a hypochondriac-creating-media which makes you think that any symptom of any illness is a life threatening one. Admittedly, this is a hard thing to gauge and is one of the questions I struggle with when I think about health care.
Ziad’s view
Since the early days of public health care in Saskatchewan, there has been a constant debate surrounding the feasibility of a public health care system and its future within an expanding Canadian society. Nevertheless, whether we like it or not, public health care has become a part of our social fabric and while we may have a ‘B’ health care system, according to the latest report released by the Conference Board of Canada, it is still something I think we all take pride in and view as our fundamental right. Even more than that, it is what sets us apart from such countries as the United States of America, with their privately run, for-profit driven system.
Public health care is an indispensable feature of Canadian society and should continue to receive government funding. Health care should be and remain a fundamental service for all members of the Canadian polity and any undermining of the Canadian public system should be monitored closely and largely limited. It is important to realize that improving the health care system is necessary to build a stronger Canadian polity. Marginalized peoples access to health care needs to be improved, in particular Aboriginals. Just take a look at the recent Globe and Mail article that reveals health officials sent body bags up to Northern Manitoba Aboriginal communities as ‘flu-fighting supplies’ (See link at bottom of post).
Educating the public on how to prevent an illness is also a key facet of any health care system. With a stress on educating the public on health care, doctors and hospitals would be relieved of more minor concerns and the population in general could avoid patterns of poor health.
Ultimately, as the debate rages south of the border around health care and the public-vs.-private option, we can take consolation in the fact that we have a system, if supported and protected, can continue to move in the right direction and remain a central facet of our social services.
(Globe and mail Link- http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/native-leaders-reject-apology-for-body-bag-blunder/article1292295/)
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