#Canada healthcare

[maternalmistreatment]

#3 England, France, Serbia, Romania, Lithuania, Greece, and Qatar... are just a few countries where Canada has a higher maternal mortality rate (CIA, n.d). And according to new statistics, these numbers continue to grow each year for Canadians.

In the video linked above, a Black woman named Shami Kadakri in the United Kingdom talks about her personal experience giving birth in a world of discrimination and mistreatment based on a person's race. While the video focuses on the UK's health system, the stories are very similar to what we hear from Canadians. In fact, experiences like this are more common in Canada. In the interview with ITV News, Shami Kadakri, speaks about the trauma and scares she has had to endure while being in the delivery room. Just 24 hours after giving birth to her son, Shami complained to nurses and doctors about excruciating pain. Her symptoms were dismissed, and she was sent home to rest, only to be rushed back a few hours later. It was then later discovered that the pain she was feeling was a life-threatening infection. Thankfully, Shami survived, but not without extreme trauma. Despite the events happening years before the interview, Shami persists that her near-death experience could have been prevented had the medical staff listened to her.

These experiences happen more often than what the general population is aware of. In fact, many believe the statistics of race-based mistreatment are higher. As stories like Shami's continue to come to light, we need to push back on institutional racism and force the medical system to address these issues.

References

Central Intelligence Agency. (n.d.). Central Intelligence Agency. https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/field/maternal-mortality-ratio/country-comparison/

[arcane-clown]

my wrist has been broken since march but bc i didnt know it was broken (i just thought it really hurt but i always really hurt) i cant go through emergency (i tried and they said theres nothiing they can do) and my appointment with the surgeon is for november

[allthecanadianpolitics]

New Brunswick has declared a provincewide whooping cough outbreak, two months after an outbreak was initially declared on the Acadian Peninsula. "We are expanding this outbreak to the entire province due to a higher number of cases of whooping cough than usual in multiple health regions," Dr. Yves Léger, acting chief medical officer of health, said in a statement late Thursday afternoon. A total of 141 cases have been confirmed so far, compared to the five-year average of 34 cases annually, according to the Department of Health. While most of the cases have been in the Bathurst and Acadian Peninsula region, Zone 6, more than half the new cases in recent weeks are outside that region.

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Tagging: @newsfromstolenland

[genericpuff]

hi this is your obligatory reminder from a Mi'kmaq-Saulteaux pal that:

1.) the ribbon skirt is a traditional ceremonial garment worn by many First Nations women to celebrate their connection to Mother Earth and reclaim their Indigenous identity from and in spite of colonization;

2.) the RCMP was literally founded as a colonial police force meant to drive Indigenous / First Nations peoples out of their territory to make way for settlers (see: the "starlight tours")

3.) racism towards indigenous people in Canada is still alive and well (the last residential school didn't close until 1996) and so the RCMP adopting ribbon skirts is not only incredibly tone deaf towards their own history and the role they played in wiping out Indigenous culture, but insulting to the practice of ribbon skirts and what they mean to many Indigenous people across the country

4.) when a government entity limits who can comment on their posts, that should tell you exactly where their priorities and intentions lie.

[newsfromstolenland]

Five supervised drug consumption sites are slated to close in Toronto after the provincial government announced a ban on such facilities near schools and child-care centres — a move that some harm-reduction experts are slamming as a "deadly mistake."

Health Minister Sylvia Jones made the announcement Tuesday at the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) conference in Ottawa.

"In Toronto, there's been numerous stories of altercations, stabbings, shootings and even a homicide in the vicinity of these sites," Jones said at the conference.

"Our first priority must always be protecting our communities, especially when it comes to some of our most innocent and vulnerable — our children."

Full article

Make no mistake, people will die as a result of this decision. The claim to be "protecting children" is being used yet again to excuse putting the lives of marginalized people at risk.

If the government really cared about not having people consume substances in front of children, they would support supervised consumption sites! By giving people a place to consume drugs safely, you give people an alternative to using drugs on the streets (where, incidentally, children often are)! And what about the children whose loved ones experience addiction? The children whose family members might OD without these resources?

But as usual, they're lying when they say it's about protecting children. It's not about that. It never is.

This is actually about not valuing the lives and safety of people who experience addiction. This is about thinking that it's a waste of money and resources to keep people who use drugs safe, doing a cost benefit analysis with people's lives on the line. This about deciding that an entire group of people are expendable for no other reason than that they use drugs. Pretending that if we remove support and resources for them, all these people will simply go away.

I'm so sick of the "protecting children" line being brought out whenever people need an excuse to be cruel. More often than not, the actions being described as a way to defend children actually cause them harm.

It's not protecting children to deny the existence of trans people. It's not protecting children to deny them sex ed. It's not protecting children to remove a source of safety for people who use drugs.

You can't protect children by sacrificing the safety and well-being of marginalized people.

Tagging: @allthecanadianpolitics

[reasonsforhope]

"In short: Nine million Canadian women of reproductive age will have the full cost of their contraception covered as part of a major health care reform, the government says.

The reform includes the most widely used contraceptive methods, such as IUDs, contraceptive pills, hormonal implants and the day after pill.

What's next? The government must still win the approval of Canada's provinces, which administer health care."

"Canada will cover the full cost of contraception for women, the government says as it highlights the first part of a major health care reform.

The government will pay for the most widely used contraceptive methods, such as IUDs, contraceptive pills, hormonal implants or the day after pill, for the nine million Canadian women of reproductive age, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said on Sunday at a press conference in a pharmacy in Toronto.

"Women should be free to choose the contraceptives they need without cost getting in the way. So, we're making contraceptives free," Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on X, formerly Twitter.

The announcement fleshes out the first part of a bill unveiled in February that, once completed, would mark the biggest expansion of Canada's publicly funded health care system in decades.

This new regime will also cover the cost of diabetes medication for some 3.7 million Canadians.

The cost of the new system and timing of the launch have not been announced...

The government must now win the approval of Canada's provinces, which actually administer health care, for this new system. Alberta and Quebec have already said they would opt out.

The pharmacare plan — as it is called locally — follows protracted negotiations between Mr Trudeau's Liberal minority government and a small leftist faction in parliament.

The New Democratic Party agreed to prop up the Liberals until the fall of 2025, on the condition that the government immediately launch the drug program."

-via ABC News Australia, March 31, 2024

[handweavers]

something so uniquely validating about seeing a doctor who actually takes you seriously and is like "yes your condition is severe and must be challenging" and offers a real treatment plan. and not once do they have to open their computer and google your health condition -_-

[awkward-teabag]

Love (cannot emphasis how much sarcasm there is in that word) that an official Canadian government response to high cellphone rates is to switch carriers.

Switch it to what? We basically have three companies since one was allowed to eat the forth (with the government saying it wasn't anti-competition and the company eating the other pinky promising they wouldn't jack rates up). Even the smaller companies have to rent infrastructure from the Big Three so there's only so much they can do if that rent costs an arm and a leg.

And that's not touching on how many "small companies" are actually just subsidiaries of the Big Three. You may save $5 but you're still with Telus/Rogers/Bell.

Or that the actual small companies tend to have shit coverage because they don't have the infrastructure available to them and are prevented from getting it. Or their traffic is throttled in favour of the Big Three's customers. Or both.

Or that they're extremely regional thus aren't an option for a huge chunk of Canada's population.

We have no true options and the government has shown time and again that they're fine with monopolies, in multiple industries, and don't care when said monopolies jack up prices to make shareholders and the c-suite more money at the expense of everyone else. At most there will be a verbal slap on the wrist and a giftcard for $25 that people have to register for, for a decade and a half of price gouging.

It's not talked a whole lot about outside the country from what I've seen and heard but Canada is a country of monopolies. A handful of companies own nearly everything, every province has a family or two that owns a hell of a lot (Nova Scotia is basically owned by one family at this point), and our government ignores it. Even the branch that is supposed to be against monopolies is fine with mergers and takeovers in most cases.

Because, you know, the company said it totally wouldn't use consumers' lack of options to increase prices.

[newspatron]

Canada | 2023 | Fascinating Country of Diversity and Progress

Do you want to know more about Canada? Check out this article that reveals some of the most fascinating facts about this amazing country. You will be surprised by what you learn!

Canada is a vast and diverse country that offers a lot to its residents and visitors. From its natural wonders and cultural attractions to its political and economic achievements, Canada is a country that deserves to be known and appreciated by everyone. In this article, you will learn some of the most interesting and important facts about Canada, such as its geography, history, culture, people,…

[mysharona1987]

[allthecanadianpolitics]

'It's used to buy time': Doctors denounce Alberta government's policy on puberty blockers

'By denying people access to puberty blockers, they will have to go through puberty — which is irreversible. Then, if they decide they want to move to the next step, they will have to do gender-affirming surgery ... and it becomes much more invasive'

While the Alberta government has billed proposed changes to care for transgender and nonbinary children as a bid to retain important medical decisions for adulthood, some health-care professionals say one of the best ways to do that will soon be prohibited. Among the sweeping changes put forward by Premier Danielle Smith’s government earlier this month is a ban on puberty blockers for those 15 and under — trans youths aged 16 or 17 would require parental consent. Federal Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre has gone a step further, saying the treatment should only be provided to those 18 and older.

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Tagging @politicsofcanada @abpoli

[allthegeopolitics]

Amylyx Pharmaceuticals said Thursday it will withdraw its amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) drug from the market in Canada and the U.S. following its failure in a late-stage clinical trial. The ALS drug, branded Albrioza in Canada and Relyvrio in the U.S., was approved in both countries in 2022. ALS causes progressive paralysis and death. Each year about 1,000 Canadians die from the disease and about the same number are diagnosed, according to the ALS Society of Canada's website. ALS affects roughly 60,000 people in the U.S. and Europe. There are few options to treat the potentially fatal disease.

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[theinconvenientlifestyle]

[aunti-christ-ine]

[celesti4l-bodies]

A selfie nobody asked for taken during a 16 hour shift last night 😴

[pandemic-info]

1 in 9 Canadian adults have experienced long-term COVID-19 symptoms; most continue to experience symptoms

The increased rate at which long-term symptoms occur in those with COVID-19 infections is an observed phenomenon that sets the illness apart from other respiratory viruses, such as the flu. This may be related to the fact that COVID-19 affects a wide range of body systems, not limited to the respiratory system, and has been documented to be able to cause organ damage in infected individuals.