UPFRONT | From the editor The Health Council of Canada (HCC) has released its latest report on a decade of health-care reform in Canada. The results, according to the agency, are disappointing. The report, issued Sept. 19, found that, with some exceptions, health-care reforms in Canada have not kept up with the evolving needs of Canadians. “Primary health-care services lag behind other coun-tries. Home care services do not adequately meet seniors’ needs. Prescription drug costs remain beyond the means of many Canadians,” said the HCC, which was created in 2003 to monitor and report on the progress of health-care reform in Canada. Canada is among the highest spenders in the world when it comes to health care, spending more than $200 billion in 2012 – and yet, the state of health care in this country does not reflect this high spending. We are closer to the bottom compared to higher-income countries when it comes to quality of care. The HCC report also found that despite Canada’s high spending on physician salaries, it has the lowest number of physicians per capita. There is clearly a void in our primary care system that has not been effectively filled by physicians today and is contributing to the unsatisfactory performance of our overall health-care system. Up to 80 per cent of the Canadian population are affected by some form of musculoskeletal condition. Imagine the burden it would take off our health-care system, if patients could go directly to a health-care provider who can actually help relieve their condition instead of being passed around from specialist to specialist, waiting months to get an appointment or a diagnostic procedure, only to be disappointed in the end. As Dr. Jay Robinson, president of the British Columbia Chiropractic Association, puts it, “The analysis shows that when patients (with musculoskeletal conditions) are seen by a chiropractor the number of unnecessary referrals to specialists is reduced dramatically. Chiropractic treatment is saving our government health-care system a great deal of time and money.” The chiropractic associations and colleges across Canada have done a great job in raising the profile of the profession within the health-care community and among the general public. But the work must continue. As long as chiropractic treatment remains outside the realm of the provincial social health-care system, public access to much-needed neuromusculoskeletal expertise is limited to those with extended health-care benefits from their employers and a few who have the extra cash to pay for chiropractic treatment. The HCC report is calling for pan-Canadian collaboration among health-care stakeholders across Canada to develop meaningful strategies to turn the health-care system around. Perhaps, this is a foot in the door for chiropractic to be heard in this important dialogue. The chiropractic community definitely has the expertise and the evidence to back up its claim for recognition. Now it needs to just get in there and play with the big kids. October 2013 Volume 18, Number 7 EDitOR Mari-Len De Guzman [email protected] (905) 726-4659 • (888) 599-2228 ext. 247 PuBlishER Christine Livingstone [email protected] (519) 429-5173 • (888) 599-2228 ext. 239 salEs assistaNt Jarah Stefek [email protected] (888) 599-2228 ext. 219 MEDia DEsiGNER Brooke Shaw GROuP PuBlishER Martin McAnulty [email protected] PREsiDENt Mike Fredericks [email protected] MailiNG aDDREss P.O. Box 530, 105 Donly Drive South, Simcoe, ON N3Y 4N5 REtuRN uNDEliVERaBlE CaNaDiaN aDDREssEs tO CiRCulatiON DEPt. P.O. BOX 530, SIMCOE, ON N3Y 4N5 e-mail: [email protected] Canadian Chiropractor is published eight times a year: February, April, May, June, July/August, September, October and December. Published and printed by Annex Publishing & Printing Inc., 105 Donly Drive South, Simcoe, ON N3Y 4N5 Printed in Canada issN 1488-6952 CiRCulatiON e-mail: [email protected] Tel: (866) 790-6070 ext. 201 Fax: (877) 624-1940 Mail: P.O. Box 530, Simcoe, ON N3Y 4N5 suBsCRiPtiON RatEs Canada – 1 Year $24.00 (with GST $25.20, with HST/QST $27.12) (HST #867172652RT0001) USA – 1 Year $35.00 (US Funds) Best pricing is available online at www.canadianchiropractor.ca Occasionally, Canadian Chiropractor will mail information on behalf of industry-related groups whose products and services we believe may be of interest to you. If you prefer not to receive this information, please contact our circulation department in any of the four ways listed above. No part of the editorial content of this publication may be reprinted without the publisher’s written permission. ©2013 Annex Publishing & Printing Inc. All rights reserved. Opinions expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those of the editor or the publisher. No liability is assumed for errors or omissions. All advertising is subject to the publisher’s approval. Such approval does not imply any endorsement of the products or services advertised. Publisher reserves the right to refuse advertising that does not meet the standards of the publication. Mari-len De guzMan, Editor EDitORial aDVisORy BOaRD @CanChiropractor Victoria Coleman, DC; Connie J. D’Astolfo, DC, Dip HA, PhD (cand); Pierre DesLauriers, DC; Karin Hammerich, DC, MHS; James P. Laws, DC, FRCCSS(C)(Hon); David Leprich, DC; Wanda Lee MacPhee, DC; Peter Moore, DC; Don Nixdorf, DC; Renae Rogers, DC; Greg Stewart, BPE, DC; Greg Uchacz, DC, FRCCSS(C); Jessica Wong, DC; Emily Roback, BSc, DC; Catherine Bezeau (student member -UQTR). 6 Canadian Chiropractor October 2013 www.canadianchiropractor.ca
Chiropractic + Naturopathic Doctor October 2013: Page 6
