Poverty

Canada’s dirty air: how pollution is hurting our health

This summer, record numbers of forest fires in Western Canada made air pollution impossible to ignore. Eerie photos of the smoky skies of Vancouver made the news – then disappeared after the air cleared. But the threat remains. Air pollution contributes to asthma, COPD and cardiovascular disease. And high background levels are often more harmful than

Despite Ontario’s Northern Health Travel Grant, some still pay out of pocket

Northern Travel Grant

When Nan Normand’s husband had quintuple bypass surgery, it cost them $1,500. It wasn’t the operation that was pricey, but the travel. The couple went from Kenora, a small city near the Ontario-Manitoba border, to Hamilton for the surgery. The trek included flights and a multiple-night stay. Normand was unlucky: Manitoba had temporarily stopped accepting most Ontario heart patients,

Towards a homegrown approach to addressing health for Canada’s homeless

Naheed Dosani healthydebate.ca blogger

Sayid is a 65 year old South Asian man from Toronto. He has schizophrenia, but with the proper medications and supports, his illness is well controlled, allowing him to work full-time in a manufacturing job. For years, like many of Toronto’s working poor, he lived paycheque to paycheque. When his company underwent downsizing, Sayid lost

“Just say no” to the war on drugs

Kathy Hardill healthydebate blogger

In recent years, health care has embraced the concept of “evidence based” practice. We incorporate this daily in our diverse work settings. We invoke it when we mentor students. We know, for example, that rigorous control of blood sugar levels in people with diabetes reduces their risk of organ damage – and so we aim