Edwards Magazine
Edwards Magazine

 

Private Parts: The implications for women’s health in the federal election

June Tavenor Brake

June Tavenor Brake

What does a publicly funded not-for-profit health care system mean for
Canadian women? Why should women be concerned if health care in Canada moves towards privatization?

According to the Canadian Cancer Society website, in 2005, an estimated 21,600 Canadian women will be diagnosed with Breast cancer. 5300 women will die from it. That means 16,300 women will be detected with free mammogram screening, be treated and survive

According to Health Canada, the survival rate for cervical cancer is now 74%, a death rate that has dropped 50% in the years following the introduction of free Pap smear testing. These tests are provided free for women through their family doctors. The women most likely to die from this disease are those of poor education levels and lower socioeconomic backgrounds who do not receive regular screening.

The list continues with colon cancer, heart disease, mental health issues, and prenatal care. They are all conditions and issues that affect women which are currently provided by or strongly supported through Canadian Health Care.

We have improved health care for Canadian women because the services are there and they are free. The statistics show that women with less money already do not receive these services. How large is this group going to become if regular check-ups are no longer free, or if Pap tests and mammograms have to be paid out-of-pocket? A mammogram costs $100 US. It is recommended that women in high risk groups have this test at least every year after the age of 40. All women should have one every two years after the age of 50.

Those living on fixed incomes would have to include health care in their budgets and that is socially unacceptable. A fear exists that women living on fixed incomes would skip regular check-ups to save money; that they would not get a mammogram at all if they have to pay.

A two-tiered system is what Stephen Harper preaches. And now after a non-confidence vote founded on health care issues, Jack Layton has made statements to the effect that private health care may be something Canadians are going to have to accept! The theory goes that those who cannot pay will not. But who decides who can pay? How many students are caught in the awkward position of not qualifying for student loans because on paper their parents make enough money to pay for their education? How many people did not go to the school they wanted because of financial restrictions? How many people did not go to school at all?

How will it work when you can pick your hospital because you can pay for it? How can we possibly expect that health care will be the same for all Canadians? How can we allow the people who are running this country to say that people who can afford better health care deserve it?

Working in an inner-city Toronto hospital, I know where a homeless woman’s priorities lie, and they are not with preventative health. How is she supposed to watch her blood sugar levels when she cannot afford the monitoring equipment? How is she supposed to watch what she is eating when available food and healthy food are not always the same thing? How do you explain to her that if she could only afford it she could have a better prosthetic leg that would make it possible to walk? But never mind that -- here’s the leg your economic group gets because Canada still pays for your health care.

I have not decided how I am going to vote this year. I am saddened deeply by the sudden change of heart of my HDP health care hero. Now it’s all strategy. I am contacting all of my candidates and I strongly urge all Canadian women to do the same. Find out exactly who is promising what. And get mad. It’s election time and it’s time for politicians to cash in on what they promise. I am not suggesting you vote for any one party, but I do suggest you consider what your priorities are and vote accordingly.

Are you a daughter of parents who are not getting any younger? Are you a mother? Do you have a partner? Health care is everyone’s business -- make sure it is your priority during this federal election.

Visit the following websites and contact your candidates!

For more information please visit: The Canadian Cancer Society and Health Canada: Screening for Cervical Cancer.

 

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