It is no wonder that the urban population in world countries is growing day by day due to industrialization and the advancements in the fields of science and technological innovations. Urbanization has become one of the major landmarks of the modern world. No doubt, urbanization has brought about human progress in many areas; however, one can also notice that it is the urban area that is more susceptible to vulnerability and environmental degradation.
The degraded urban environment in Canada has added to the issue of the poor health of the Canadians who live in the urban areas and this has redefined the health care needs of the people in the nation. The urban physical and social hazards like poverty and violence have adversely affected the hygiene of the citizens, and changes in lifestyle and food habits have also been instrumental in the breakdown of the general health of the citizens of the nation.
It is pathetic to note that the Canadian Government has to spend a large amount of public expenditure for the healthcare needs of its citizens and it is no wonder that a variety of laws, policies and measures have been undertaken by the Government to alleviate the severity of the crisis faced by the nation. The paper tries to identify the major environmental factors that have caused great harm to the health care of Canadians and the aim of the paper is to pinpoint the possible solutions to the issue through research.
In Canada, the majority of the total population is living in the urban areas and the country gains much of its GDP from its major cities: “The Canadian economy is inextricably linked to the health of its cities; for example, the seven largest cities in Canada generate almost 45 per cent of the national GDP and large cities like Vancouver and Montreal account for over half of provincial GDP.” (McBean & Henstra, 2003, 1).
It is unfortunate to note that the urban areas in Canada are subjected to a lot of natural disasters from time to time. The ill effects of these natural disasters add to the misery of the people and cause a serious threat to the natural health care of the people. Even though earthquakes often destroy the natural peaceful life of Canadians, the changing climate and subsequent weather hazards torment the nation badly. As Gordon McBean & Dan Henstra point out, in Canada, “Weather hazards include tornadoes, hailstorms, winter storms and heatwaves, while weather-related hazards include drought, storm surges, floods and moving ice.
Weather and weather-related hazards vary in their likelihood across Canada: for example, tornadoes and hailstorms 6 are most common on the Prairies and in southern Ontario, storm surges are common on the East coast, and winter storms can occur across the country.” (McBean & Henstra, 2003, 2). These weather-related environmental hazards increase the intensity of the health care needs of the affected citizens and it is sad that the Canadians are completely helpless to fight these natural disasters. Heavy rainfalls and snowfalls also pose threat to the peaceful life of the inhabitants as there are chances for floods during heavy rainfall and snowfall.
Very often the huge urban buildings, the electric power systems and the water resources of the nation are most likely to be affected by these natural calamities and climatic changes. The health of Canada is to be understood keeping in mind these peculiar climatic and environmental conditions that the Canadians undergo. While Urbanization has brought about material prosperity to the nation, it has also made its cities so vulnerable and have turned many urban dwellers homeless and made their lives miserable.
Therefore, it is necessary that measures are to be taken to keep better balance with nature and it is high time the Canadians understood that one-sided urban development has its own disadvantages too. The relation between urbanization and its adverse effects on the lives of the people is best brought out by Gordon McBean & Dan Henstra when they observe: “Large concrete expanses used in urban construction absorb summer sun and exasperate heat waves, which kill about 11 people per year in Canada and contribute to heart attacks and other heat-related ailments for many others.
The use of sealed asphalt and concrete for city streets prevents ground absorption during an extreme rainfall event, contributing to a risk of flooding when drainage systems become overwhelmed.” (McBean & Henstra, 2003, 3). Besides, many of the buildings and designs in the urban regions do not have the capacity to withstand the changing climate. All these factors contribute to poor environmental conditions for the urban Canadians which have negative impacts on the natural health of the people.
The pollution of the air and the unexpected rise in the concentration of carbon dioxide are the other two factors that affect the healthy life of urban Canadians. The changes in the climate have also given rise to the emergence of excess greenhouse gases and have adversely caused changes to the global mean temperatures. Thus, it is clear that many of the climatic misfortunes are the result of human-induced climate change. The statement of Dr R. Watson, Chairperson of the IPCC, deserves primary attention in this regard. He remarks:
“The overwhelming majority of scientific experts, whilst recognizing that scientific uncertainties exist, nonetheless believe that human-induced climate change is inevitable. Indeed, during the last few years, many parts of the world have suffered major heatwaves, floods, droughts, fires and extreme weather events leading to significant economic losses and loss of life. While individual events cannot be directly linked to human-induced climate change, the frequency and magnitude of these types of events are predicted to increase in a warmer world.” (McBean & Henstra, 2003, 5).
Thus, the natural hazards and the peculiar climatic condition of the Canadians are strong determinants of their health and health-related issues. Most disaster-related health problems need immediate and emergency attention; at times, they may be needing assistance from non-medical agencies too. The availability and accessibility of urgent medical and health care to be ensured in calamity prone urban areas.
The changing political and economic environment of the nation has adversely affected the health care needs of the nation too. There are many who believe that the non-sustainability of public health care in the nation is not due to economic factors like the funding crisis, but rather it is more politically motivated. Gerard W. Boychuck, in this respect, observes that “While the contemporary political orientation towards balanced budgets, deficit/debt reduction and lower taxes does not necessarily undermine the sustainability of the current health care system, more robust political support is required to sustain the current system of public health care in this context and the potential for current institutional arrangements to undermine support of the health care system is magnified”. (Boychuck, 2002).
The Canadian Government has rightly understood that preserving its natural environment through maintaining pure and unpolluted water resources and clean air, reduction of greenhouse gases and prevention of climate changes through eco-friendly intervention programs is the key to uplifting the health care standards of the people of the nation. The Government has invested $4.5 billion in the 2007 budget for this purpose.
Efforts have also been made to make Canadian health care compete with international standards and the 2007 budget proposes to provide a “$22-million-per-year increase to help the Canadian Institute for Health Information build on its reputation as a world leader in providing timely, accurate and comparable health information that supports improved health delivery outcomes.” (Preserving our environment and modernizing our health care system: Modernizing our health care system, 2007).
The majority of the Canadians who live in the urban regions of the nation identify health care as the most significant issue in the country. A poll conducted by Innovative Research Group for the Canadian Defense & Foreign Affairs Institute proved that 24% of the respondents considered health care as the most haunting and daunting issue that the nation faces.
The poll also shows that “The environment is second on the list with 20 per cent, followed by the economy with 11 per cent, social issues with eight per cent, defence and security also with eight per cent, federal/provincial relations with five per cent, and crime with four per cent.” (Health care environment top issues in Canada, 2006). Kathleen Wilson and Mark W. Rosenberg are of the opinion that the accessibility of health care in Canada is in high danger due to the geographical peculiarity of the country. The CHA (Canada Health Care Act) acts as the primary source of legislation that offers health care services to the provinces and territories of the nation and it seeks to offer equal health care services to all.
The primary objective of the CHA’s health care policy is “to protect, promote and restore the physical and mental well-being of residents of Canada and to facilitate reasonable access to health services without financial or other barriers.” (Rosenberg & Wilson, 2002). Thus the provisions made in the Canada Health Care Act are to offer universal health care for the citizens of the nation. Various laws and health care reforms have been introduced with a view to meet the challenges faced in the field of health.
The accessibility and availability of health care services is another area of concern as far as the Canadian urban environment is concerned. Colleen Flood observes that there is a lack of integration between the social service systems and the health care system in the nation which has adversely affected the quality of the health care services offered in the nation. According to him, the Government’s failure to integrate the social service systems with the health care programs has caused far-reaching effects on the “initiatives to close hospitals, the economics of home care versus hospitalization versus nursing home care, the nature of home care, and thoughts on the elements of a good home care policy.” (Ramsay, 2004).
Compulsory community treatment in Canada is viewed as a better solution to the lack of accessibility and the unequal distribution of health care services in the nation as “the improvement of the quality and availability of therapeutic and support services in the community is a far better way to improve mental health services.” (Ramsay, 2004).
The changed lifestyle of the urban community in the nation has accelerated the consumption of alcohol and subsequent diseases like cancer, hypertension, liver disease, and consumption of alcohol has immensely caused higher accident rates in the nation. Thus alcohol poses “a serious health concern in Canada as it causes substantial morbidity in this country, and carries many serious implications for policy and prevention.” (Taylor et al,2007). Thus, Canada has to spend a large part of the health care funding for the hospitalization and treatment of alcohol-related diseases and to design and implement intervention programs for the same.
One of the greatest health hazards in Canada is the growing rate of environmental pollution that consumes the lives of many a citizen. It is likely that the expenditure on health care increases rapidly unless and until the environment is protected and is kept unpolluted. As Nathaniel Mead observes: “Counties with higher pollution levels tended to have higher per capita health care costs, whereas those that spent more on environmental protection ended up spending less on health care.” (Mead, 2003). By the 1970s environmental degradation in the nation forced the Federal Government to establish the Environmental Assessment and Review Process Guidelines 1973.
The 1988 CEPA is regarded as a major landmark among the country’s environmental protection policies as the act “provided the federal government with a legislative framework for managing toxic substances from “cradle to grave,” which included broad powers to gather information about toxic substances from industry sources and required the compilation of a Priority Substances List of suspected toxics for assessment “(p. 267) (Vannijnatten, Debora L, 1999 ).
However, the “Federal environmental laws promulgated at this time did make some provision for public participation, mainly through public hearings” (p. 267). Public participation is an essential prerequisite for the protection of the environment as all the government efforts would be in vain until the people themselves cooperate and take part actively in governmental guidelines.
The health care environment in Canada witnessed constant shifts as there were drastic health care reforms from time to time, and there were also considerable changes in the fund allotment for health care needs. According to the CIHI’s statistics, in 1999, the “total public and private health care spending is expected to have reached $86 billion, up 5% or about $100 per person more than the year before” (p. x) (Health care in Canada 2000: A first annual report, 2000).
The 1999 Canada Health and Social Service Transfer brought great changes to the nature of Federal Funding to the provinces as it started to provide only a “single contribution to the provinces and territories to support health care, post-secondary education, social assistance and other social programs. Provincial/territorial priorities determine the distribution of funds. This change in funding arrangements has led to debates between federal/provincial and territorial partners about the amounts and proportions of health care funding” (A Scan of health care environment: Health care reforms and funding shifts, 2000).
Another crisis in the Health care of Canada is the increasing number of old people in the urban community and the decrease in the number of registered nurses in the nation. According to the CIHI, in 1998, there were over 227,000 registered nurses serving in various parts of the country. However, it is disheartening that “Canada’s nurses are ageing and fewer young people are entering the profession” ( P. xi). (Health care in Canada 2000: A first annual report, 2000).
The report shows that public health programs have been successful in the eradication of smallpox, polio and Canadian measles. However, HIV/AIDS, teen smoking, injury prevention, and threats to the physical environment are areas of concern as far as the health care of the nation is concerned. The report also identifies that the role played by family doctors in the health care scenario of Canada is significant. On the other hand, before universal medical insurance was introduced, it was highly difficult for the low-income groups of Canadians to afford the service of a family doctor. However, even with the introduction of universal access to healthcare, there are major differences in the availability and quality of the treatment provided.
The annual report also points out that the geographical condition and the demographics of the nation are the two other major factors that affect the health care of the country. The country is very large and the diverse and ageing population of the nation is scattered in various regions which makes it difficult to make health care accessible to all the needy and affected patients. The low mortality rate, low birth rate and the improvements in the fields of science and technology have all contributed to a larger proportion of the older generation and a comparatively smaller population of the younger generation in the nation. ((Health care in Canada 2000: A first annual report, 2000)
To conclude, one can state that most of the urban environmental problems in Canada pose threat to the present and future healthy life of its citizens. It is, therefore, necessary for the nation to identify the human-induced damages done to the environment and resort to more ecologically friendly developmental projects and urban endeavours. It is to be kept in mind that any urban endeavours that harm the immediate physical environment of the Canadians need to be given extra attention.
It is thus necessary to follow an “ecosystem approach” and the term has wider significance for a nation like Canada, which is tormented with climatic changes and environmental imbalances. A possible means to maintain an “ecosystem approach” is through community empowerment. As Convey suggests, “The key to the “ecosystem approach” is a broader understanding of the role social, cultural, economic, and environmental factors play in the health of the local population and how those factors interact. The active involvement of the community is therefore critical to its success”. (Convey, 2002, 134).
The urban areas should be focusing upon sustainable development rather than one-sided development, which would benefit both the economy and the environment of the nation. The nation should preserve more environmental farms and find innovative agricultural solutions for the ecological crisis that the nation is in.
One should bear in mind the words of John Baird, the Federal Environment Minister: “Continuing the cooperative work under the Canada-Ontario Agreement reflects our commitment to pursue practical, results-oriented solutions to reduce pollution and improve the health and well-being of Canadians,” and “The quality of our water is essential to the economy and the health of our aquatic ecosystems.”
(Canada and Ontario continue to improve the great lakes, 2007). Thus, the study has shown that it is the degraded urban environment that acts as the primary contributing factor for the poor health of the citizens of the nation. And the possible solutions to the present environmental crisis necessitate both short term and long term plans and policies and such policies should emphasize the need for sustainable urban development, which would preserve eco-friendly environmental conditions in the nation.
References
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