The Social Inequalities of Healthcare
The overwhelming truth about the COVID-19 pandemic is that while the virus itself does not discriminate based on race, gender, or socio-economic status, it has done an excellent job of exposing the presence of these inequalities. In Toronto, BIPOC individuals make up 83% of COVID cases despite only accounting for half of the population. Across Ontario, diverse neighbourhoods have hospitalization and ICU rates four times higher than less diverse neighbourhoods. So how then to explain these discrepancies, especially as the nature of a “global pandemic” should indicate that everyone is equally affected? Well, the answer is simple and a truth that has long been present but oft-ignored. The Canadian healthcare system, a beacon of national pride, does not succeed in its goal of providing the best health outcomes to all Canadians.
More and more research is being done on the importance of “social determinants of health”, where you are born, live, work, age, and die. These ideas move past the antiquated view that healthcare only happens in a hospital, that symptom treatment is the main goal of care. Education levels, access to resources like counseling, gyms, and leisure play a massive part in an individual’s overall health. The push in Ontario towards a more community-oriented care model through Ontario Health Teams is a welcome one, as is the creation of the Ontario Digital Health Strategy enabling the use of data and virtual care options to provide more support for the most vulnerable. However, we must also recognize that resolving these longstanding inequities will require more than a blanket solution. Because, as much as we Canadians like to think that everyone has access to the same level of care and are all on level ground, the reality is far from that.
COVID-19, as well as the Black Lives Matter and Anti-Racism movement, has revealed the true flaw in our society; that we, willingly or unwillingly, fail the less fortunate in favour of the powerful. During the pandemic, the wealth of Canada’s 20 richest billionaires has increased by $37 billion while unemployment rates have skyrocketed and millions of families suffer. We are in a health crisis, and it is important that we concentrate on resolving the COVID-19 pandemic, but we cannot do so without taking a hard look at what has been revealed and putting into place policies that will ensure that our society emerges from this a stronger, more equitable place to live. These policies include more support for mental health, especially targeting areas with few publicly available mental health services. While the fallout from the pandemic is far from clear, one thing that is certain is there will be an uptick in mental health concerns that must be dealt with. Other policies include adequate housing support and job training, investment in public transit and community centers. Healthcare spending should not be limited to drugs and doctors but rather a tide that lifts all boats instead of waves that crash harmlessly against yachts yet swamp canoes.
Healthcare, and specifically healthcare innovation, is a particular passion of mine so there will be blog posts on new and interesting ideas from the world of health policy sprinkled among my other ramblings. The future of healthcare is being shaped today and I hope that the lessons we’ve learned in the past 8 months will guide us in creating a system that all Canadians can be proud of.
References:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/toronto-covid-19-data-1.5669091
