Why doctors and urban planners need to work together to improve public health and prevent chronic disease Since John Snow mapped out the large cholera outbreak in 1854 to where people lived in London, it has been known that where we live, work and play strongly influences people’s health. The way that our cities and towns […]
Tailoring a program to tackle homelessness and alcoholism saves lives Maybe it’s time we woke up and realized that how we’ve been dealing with a certain segment of homeless people in this city just isn’t working. You probably know the ones I mean: you pass by them if you walk downtown on your way […]
I began medical school optimistic about what becoming a physician meant I could do for my future patients. Naively, I presumed my career would involve treating patients’ illnesses so they could return to lead full and fulfilling lives.
It was surreal, really. About 30 women gathered for a Thursday luncheon at the Manitoba Club, enjoying a chicken caesar salad while their guest speaker held the floor with a PowerPoint presentation to underscore his main points. Suddenly, the screen was filled with a photo of male genitals covered in ulcers, or “chancroids,” the more […]
North America is grappling with an opioids epidemic. British Columbia has even declared a public health emergency because of a significant increase in opioid-related overdoses and deaths. Dr. David Juurlink, Head of the Division of Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology at the University of Toronto, and Tara Gomes, Epidemiologist and Scientist at St. Michael’s Hospital and […]
Imagine you’re a physician seeing a six month old child in clinic. She has a fever and cough, she’s working hard to breathe and her oxygen levels are falling. You know she needs assessment in the emergency room and requires transportation in an ambulance in case her condition worsens en route. Her family understands the urgency of the situation, but asks, “Could we take her there in our car?”
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.
Buried in the current omnibus budget bill being studied by Parliament is a plan to demote the Chief Public Health Officer of Canada. He will no longer hold a deputy minister rank, he will have no direct line to the federal minister of health, he will be subservient to a bureaucratic agency president and he will have no secure public funding.
