Policy and Politics

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by Mariana da Silva Jardim

Shopping for care. Is medical tourism a benefit or risk to our health-care system?

Medical tourism (MT) is a fast-growing global market and it’s not going away. But while some argue that MT might alleviate the Canadian health-care system's wait times, it also comes at a price.

by Tim Brady

Dear family doc: We’re all in this together

During these challenging times – just like during the height of the pandemic – we need every health-care provider doing his or her part. Ontario pharmacists are here to help.
by Sandor J. Demeter

Let’s stop the bickering: Canadians are weary of finger-pointing amid the health-care crisis

Canadians love their publicly funded health care. But it is time to stop normalizing our broken health-care system. Political leaders need to quit bickering about who pays for what and get on with actually fixing the problem.
by Maddi Dellplain

Will the first cut be the deepest? The debate on for-profit surgeries

As Ontario moves to fund private centres for select surgical procedures, will the province see a reduction in backlogs? Or is it a slippery slope towards further privatization of the provincial healthcare system? Our experts weigh in.

by Maddi Dellplain

OurCare survey highlights lack of access to primary care

A nation-wide survey on the state of primary care in Canada illuminates pressing issues facing our health system. Dr. Tara Kiran and a team of collaborators with the OurCare project have launched an online dashboard with the findings.
by Tanya Smith Yudhvir Bhatti Daniel Li

Nursing and medical students agree: drop Bill 124

The provincial government has long ignored the needs of nurses and the passing of Bill 124 by the Ford government rubbed more salt in the wound. Nursing and medical students call to end its bad faith efforts to revive Bill 124.
by Rod Parsa Rebekah Sibbald

The case for mature medical students

Many professional programs in Canada have long touted values that promote diversity of experience. But when it comes to medical schools - little consideration is made for older, more experienced candidates.
by Nickrooz Grami

Online sports betting: Governments’ risky gamble is a looming public-health crisis

Billboards, social media, televised sports – no matter where you look, the onslaught of online sports betting ads has become inescapable. But is it worth exposing an especially vulnerable portion of the population to the harms of gambling in order to increase government revenue?
by Talveer Mandur Margaret Hulbert Kamilah Haywoood

A 9-1-1 on health care in Ontario’s correctional facilities

Incarceration in Ontario’s correctional facilities is becoming more fatal. Deaths in custody have increased almost 50 per cent since 2020 despite a decreasing number of incarcerated people. Part of the solution could be the transfer of care from the Ministry of the Solicitor General to the Ministry of Health.
by Mariana da Silva Jardim

B.C.’s ‘necessary step forward’ in drug decriminalization

B.C. is Canada’s first jurisdiction to be granted a federal exemption to decriminalize personal drug possession up to 2.5 grams. Other provinces may soon follow suit.

by Lawrence Loh

Beware the ‘Kraken’ – but for a different, official reason

The nickname “Kraken” for the XBB.1.5. subvariant of COVID-19 Omicron does not arise from any mandated agency or authority and incites undue fear. When the tentacle wags the giant squid, the media undermine their own credibility as honest arbiters of facts.

by Samira Jeimy Sabina Vohra-Miller Natasha Correa

Debunking the myth of immunity debt

Immunity debt is an attractive concept. But there is little evidence for it as an explanation for the resurgence in pediatric respiratory infections.

by Rebekah Sibbald Larry W. Chambers

The key to living longer and better? Dying at home

Despite our preferences, most Canadians do not have the privilege of dying at home. Although it is not possible to guarantee a good death, it is possible to reduce your risk of a bad death by thinking and talking about end-of-life.
by Liana Hwang

‘Extremely frustrated’: B.C. family docs shut out of vaccination drive

“It’s outrageous. We’ve always partnered in influenza vaccination and used our offices and our knowledge of our patients and the local community to facilitate vaccination. And we were utterly shut out.”
by Katie Goldie

The gift of a better death

Canadians need universal and equitable access to high-quality palliative care. It’s time to talk about death and dying more openly and ask ourselves: What is a good death?

by Adam Pyle

Ontario service agreement adds new barriers to specialty care

A little-noticed change to the Physician Services Agreement between the provincial government and medical practitioners could leave Ontarians without a family doctor to face new barriers to care in a variety of specialty areas.

by Alykhan Abdulla Matthew Schurter

Dr. Pharmacist?

Pharmacists can prescribe medications for certain ailments in eight provinces with Ontario about to follow suit. But while pharmacists knowledge of medications is invaluable, are they diagnosticians?

by Peter Smith

Health care needs to work smarter, not harder

Canada’s health system is on life support, and those in positions of authority need to act now to bring it back to life with intelligence and compassion. `
by Margaret McGregor Courtney Howard Amira Aker

Woefully inadequate: Dearth of funding for biomedical health research reflects our environmental racism

Biomedical research policy needs to begin addressing environmental racism and justice and expand funded research for climate change, environmental and planetary health.
by David Ponka

Even a child can see collaboration is essential to save the Canadian health-care system

Everything is related; solutions must once again be aligned, locally scaled and human centred. We need a more stable, unified approach in health care. We need more transformative models moving forward. Above all, we need primary care and public health to join forces to prepare us for the next big challenge – climate change.

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