Evidence Network

NAFTA re-negotiations may threaten Canada’s steps toward universal pharmacare

A version of this commentary appeared in the Toronto Star, Ottawa Life and the Huffington Post A “modernized NAFTA” has significant implications for many sectors of the economy — and health care is one of them.  What’s at stake?  Canadians’ right to universal access to affordable medicines. When negotiating with the U.S. and Mexico, Canadian […]

Early interventions require a new means of social investment

Investing in social programs improves social conditions and, as a consequence, improves people’s lives. That’s fairly obvious. What hasn’t always been as obvious, however, is that such social spending doesn’t tend to come at the cost of economic growth.

Saskatoon’s housing crisis Is a health emergency

Recently, a disturbing photo of five people sleeping in a Saskatoon bank lobby became headline news and filled social media feeds.

Basic Income: Just What the Doctor Ordered

What makes people sick? Infectious agents like bacteria and viruses and personal factors like smoking, eating poorly and living a sedentary lifestyle. But none of these compares to the way that poverty makes us sick.

Why it is critical we learn from past healthcare mistakes

The health care system in Canada is not always perfect. Mistakes are made, but Dr. Joshua Tepper believes it is critical we learn from past healthcare mistakes in order to improve the quality of services.

Is it finally time for a national drug plan?

A new study in the Canadian Medical Association Journal with health economist Steve Morgan as lead author argues a national universal care drug program would not result in substantial tax increases. Indeed, such a plan reduces public and private spending on prescription drugs by $7.3 billion annually – or by 32 percent.

Double-failing on health

Forty is the new thirty. Orange is the new black. And Failure is the new success.

It seems these days that no success story is complete without a failure (or two) along the way: the bankruptcy that gave birth to a successful company; the entrepreneur who lost it all just before hitting the Fortune 500.

Growing income gap poses a health risk to all

Certain Canadian commentators are bringing forth a strange critique of public health, suggesting that physicians and public health experts, charged with caring for the health of Canadians, should not concern themselves with the root causes of illness and stick to a narrow range of health interventions.