Editorial
Politics, Identity, and Motivated Reasoning: Post-Convoy Reflections on COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptance
Perhaps, in an alternate pandemic universe, the 2022 protests against vaccine mandates for truckers could have played out differently.
In December 2021, the federal government announced a vaccine mandate for cross-border truckers, requiring unvaccinated truckers either to receive their COVID-19 vaccinations, or to quarantine for 14 days upon their return to Canada [1,2]…
Advancing Health Equity: The Impacts of SDoH on Mental Health and Wellbeing
Law directly impacts the health and well-being of citizens, whether positively or negatively. While the law strives towards health equity, certain social determinants of health (SDoH) put individuals at a disadvantage and undermine their wellbeing [1]. The health issues vulnerable social groups face can be attributed to the cultural, socio-economic, and environmental conditions they experience [1]…
Addressing Mental Health Service Access among Black Canadians
As conceptualized by the World Health Organization, mental health is the state of well-being where an individual can deal with stressors, be productive, and an active member within their community [1]. It extends beyond the absence of mental health conditions such as anxiety or depression to include a positive sense of well-being and the capacity to enjoy life [2]…
Ongoing Crisis of Agricultural Migrant Workers amid COVID-19
Canada’s seasonal agricultural workers make up a large portion of the agricultural industry and ensure that the country remains free of food insecurity. We often forget about the extensive labour that goes into the production of our food supply. Canada’s agricultural production and supply largely depend on migrant seasonal agricultural workers, who make up about 93% of the agricultural industry [1,16]…
Public Health Lessons from the Past: Scapegoating
Crises such as the COVID-19 global pandemic can lead societies to blame others for their misfortunes, often a group of people from a racial, ethnic and/or religious minority [1]. This is known as scapegoating [1]. Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, Asian Canadians have been victimised as scapegoats, increasingly becoming targets of violent anti-Asian attacks…
Compounding Effects of Corruption on COVID-19
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought on challenges for communities around the world, including virus surveillance and containment, economic disruption, and unprecedented stress on healthcare systems. Communities have suffered extraordinary loss, and though the end may now be in sight with the development and administration of viable vaccines, the impacts and demands of this pandemic continue to evolve at unmanageable rates…
The Year of the Nurse and Midwife in a COVID-19 Pandemic: Reflections of a Nurse
The beginning of 2020 carried great expectations for nurses and midwives across the globe. In May 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) nominated the year 2020 as the Year of the Nurse and the Midwife (YONM)…
The Complex Matter of Collecting Race-Based Healthcare Information
There is no question that racial inequalities translate into the public health context. These inequalities may manifest in the form of poor health outcomes due to factors including a lack of medical access and prolonged structural racism, which heavily impacts social determinants of health…
Sexual Minorities Have Severely Less Access to HIV-Related Medical Services in the United States
Gay, bisexual, and men who have sex with men (gbMSM) are the most affected by HIV, accounting for 69% of new HIV infections in the United States. Among this population, black gbMSM experience significantly higher rates of HIV infection compared to all other racial groups and are the least likely to initiate antiretroviral treatment.
The Impact of Social Attitudes and Reproductive Expectations on Women
Mary Nghi Ngo examines the societal attitudes and expectations regarding reproduction as factors impacting women’s health and well-being.
New York State Ventilator Allocation Guidelines: Legal and Ethical Dilemmas in the Materialization of Policy
One of the largest issues currently concerning policymakers and medical workers is that ventilators are running out in New York City, the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak in the United States.
Finding the Middle-Ground for Caesarean Section Rates between “Too Little, Too Late” and “Too Many, Too Soon”
Every year 300,000 women die during childbirth, and 99% of these deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Access to Caesarean sections (C-sections) is a requirement for safe childbirth, and when medically indicated, provide a life-saving intervention…
The Sierra Leone Mudslide: An Environmental Disaster
Tragically, on August 14th, 2017, the Sugar Loaf Mountain in Freetown, Sierra Leone suffered a massive mudslide…
Health systems – of the people, by the people, for the people
The health system is the backbone of healthcare service delivery. At a national level, health systems provide the foundation for health policy and legislative framework, resource allocation (financial and human) …
Mitigating the Cultural Factors Barring Recent Immigrants’ Access to the Canadian Health Care System
Despite the advent of a new decade, we appear to have carried with us many of the same growing fears that were building up toward the end of 2019 through to 2020…
Responding to War: Is Public Health the Answer?
As current political tensions point toward war, the protection of civilians in conflict area’s right to health must be considered and protected…
An Unhealthy Synergy: Linking Poor Health Services to Civil Unrest in Latin America
At the core of the World Health Organization’s mission is “the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of health”. However, with continuous health inequalities, unequal access to medical care, and historical trauma in Latin America…
Surgical Strikes On Surgical Wards: The Systematic Destruction of the Syrian Health System
It was unclear whether the jets had Russian or Syrian pilots, but their target was entirely unambiguous. On June 8th of this year, Al-Bayan hospital in Northern Aleppo was struck in a series of air-strikes conducted by government and allied forces…
Needed – A Tommy Douglas for Dental Health
Canadians owe much to Tommy Douglas – a fierce leader who fought to establish a universal health care system in Saskatchewan and later have it spread across the country. Our universal health care system is a source of national pride for many Canadians – yet it is not as comprehensive as we imagine it to be…
The Sight of Sight For All
For one who is poor, for one who lives under $2/day, for one who has to work every day to feed the family, blindness equals death … With several competing priorities, there is a severe lack of facilities to treat the poorest of the poor for blindness at an affordable price.