Canada - World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe
Canada - World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe
Canada - World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe
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140<br />
<strong>Health</strong> systems in transition <strong>Canada</strong><br />
Table 7.4<br />
Percentage of patients receiving care within pan-Canadian benchmarks, by province,<br />
2011<br />
Radiation<br />
therapy Cardiac<br />
<strong>for</strong> cancer bypass<br />
(< 4 weeks) (< 2–26 weeks)<br />
Cataract<br />
removal<br />
(< 16 weeks)<br />
Hip<br />
replacement<br />
(< 26 weeks)<br />
Knee<br />
Hip<br />
replacement fracture repair<br />
(< 26 weeks) (< 48 hours)<br />
British Columbia 67 79 76 76 99 76<br />
Alberta 98 95 59 80 70 81<br />
Saskatchewan 99 100 58 75 62 84<br />
Manitoba 100 97 71 59 52 85<br />
Ontario 97 100 88 90 85 78<br />
Quebec 99 – a 88 82 78 – a<br />
New Brunswick 95 99 85 72 53 83<br />
Nova Scotia 83 100 65 62 44 79<br />
Prince Edward Island 96 – b 67 71 55 81<br />
Newfoundland<br />
and Labrador<br />
96 100 71 82 62 87<br />
<strong>Canada</strong> 97 99 82 82 75 79<br />
Source: CIHI (2012b). a Data provided in a <strong>for</strong>m that was not comparable to other jurisdictions and there<strong>for</strong>e omitted;<br />
b There are no cardiac bypass surgeons in Prince Edward Island and residents are sent to other provinces <strong>for</strong> this health service.<br />
Some additional light has been thrown on this question by various scholars<br />
who have analysed the results of the Joint <strong>Canada</strong>–United States Survey of<br />
<strong>Health</strong>, 2002–2003. Both countries demonstrate a positive correlation between<br />
income and population health, but in the lowest income quintile, Canadians are<br />
healthier than Americans. Similarly, at lower levels of education, Canadians<br />
are healthier than Americans, a result attributed at least in part to the policy of<br />
universal medicare (Lasser, Himmelstein & Woolhandler, 2006; Eng & Feeny,<br />
2007; McGrail et al., 2009).<br />
Certain socioeconomic groups, particularly Canadian Aboriginal<br />
populations, have extremely low health status and health outcomes relative to<br />
the majority of the population. In part because of its fiduciary responsibilities<br />
<strong>for</strong> First Nations and Inuit, the federal government has funded and administered<br />
a large number of targeted population and public health programmes in an ef<strong>for</strong>t<br />
to narrow the gap in health disparities. In recent years, provincial and territorial<br />
governments have also initiated targeted policies and programmes. Despite<br />
these many ef<strong>for</strong>ts, a significant health disparity remains (Frohlick, Ross &<br />
Richmond, 2006; Loppie Reading & Wien, 2009).<br />
In the 2006 census, immigrants made up nearly 20% of the Canadian<br />
population, and this percentage is <strong>for</strong>ecast to be in excess of 25% by 2031. In<br />
contrast to Aboriginal peoples, immigrants in <strong>Canada</strong> tend, on average, to