Current Problems: Health (18-24)
Exploring Theme: "Systemic Racism"
Updates on this page: 34
(Filtered by Stakeholder "British Columbia")
December 9, 2024
Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs denied access to medical records in transplant discrimination case
Tribunal rules patients’ right to confidentiality paramount CBC Indigenous: The Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) will not have access to the medical records of Indigenous patients it says were harmed by provincial health providers’ liver transplant policies, the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal has ruled. In an ongoing human rights complaint, the UBCIC alleges the...
November 7, 2024
Systemic Racism in Canadian Healthcare: The Tragedy of Brian Sinclair and Joyce Echaquan | NDN POV
NationTalk: Credit: TVO Today This episode of NDN POV delves into the systemic racism faced by Indigenous peoples in the Canadian healthcare system, as well as the longstanding inequities caused by colonization. Indigenous peoples in Canada suffer disproportionately from poor health outcomes, including higher rates of chronic disease, mental health challenges, and lower life expectancy compared...
November 1, 2024
Indigenous advocates hope a new national registry can help prevent more women from being forcibly sterilized
Senator Yvonne Boyer, a member of the Métis Nation of Ontario, said coerced sterilization is not only a historic problem in Canada but a current concern. Boyer arrives for a news conference on July 14, 2022 in Ottawa.ADRIAN WYLD/THE CANADIAN PRESS The Globe and Mail: Ottawa – A non-profit group is compiling a new registry...
October 20, 2024
CMA apology a first step toward healing medical harms against Indigenous people, advocates say
Canadian Medical Association apologized last month for its role in the health-care system’s historic harms Unreserved – 52:20 Healing 150 years of healthcare harm Click on the following link to, listen to Unreserved: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/unreserved/medical-harms-indigenous-people-cma-apology-1.7355104 CBC Indigenous: Advocates are optimistic about a historic apology for harms experienced by Indigenous people in health care — but they say...
October 9, 2024
An investigation into anti-Indigenous racism in healthcare: Why the CMA’s apology is only the beginning
By Martha Troian – Opinion #6 of 6 articles from the Special Report: Surviving Hate “Juliette was a dying little woman. She was only 88 pounds,” Joyce Tapaquon says of her daughter, a cervical cancer patient who was escorted out by the police during a stay at Pasqua Hospital. Juliette died in 2014. Photo courtesy of...
October 4, 2024
The health of Indigenous people’s isn’t an Indigenous problem, it’s Canada’s responsibility
IMAGE BY: ELLA THOMAS NationTalk: The Queen’s University Journal – The declining life spans of the Indigenous community is a cry for Canadian healthcare systems to change their ways. However, their solution is a bit too simplistic for an issue that runs generations deep. The British Columbia First Nations Health Authority recently reported a six-year drop in life...
August 27, 2024
A ‘Gut-Wrenching’ Snapshot of First Nations Health
Toxic drugs and COVID have hit communities hard. But there’s still hope, resilience and a path to improve things, say top doctors. [Editor’s note: This story contains discussion about the wide-ranging health impacts resulting from settler colonialist policies against First Nations people in B.C. This includes references to self-harm and harm experienced by children.] The...
May 20, 2024
Two Indigenous nurses pave the way to overcoming a colonial past to lead in health care
Up until the 1930s, Indigenous women were ‘largely barred’ from attending nursing school in Canada. Lisa Bourque Bearskin of the Beaver Lake Cree Nation is an associate professor for the School of Nursing at the University of Victoria.UVic photo NationTalk: Times Colonist – Prior to colonization, Indigenous healers and midwives held significant roles in their...
March 13, 2024
First Nation says racism, doctor shortage persists in BC Interior
NationTalk: PrinceGeorgeNow – The Canadian Press – A British Columbia First Nation says racism in the health−care system persists despite efforts by the government and industry to combat the problem. The Tsilhqot’in National Government says in a statement that it met with officials from Interior Health, the Cariboo Regional District and the City of Williams...
March 8, 2024
First Nations Life Expectancy Has Plummeted. How to Change That
Solutions exist in culturally competent health care, safer supply, better recovery options and community connection, experts say. [Editor’s note: This story contains discussion of intergenerational trauma and the impacts of residential schools.] HELP IS AVAILABLE If you need support, call the Indian Residential School Survivors Society at 1-800-721-0066 or 1-866-925-4419 for the 24-7 crisis line....
March 7, 2024
Indigenous public health advocates share strategies for dismantling colonial structures
“Being subject to Canadian colonial practices and policies is bad for Indigenous people’s health. It violates their right to health, wellness, and discrimination-free living.” —Eryn Braley Top left is Jorden Hendry. Top right is Eryn Braley. Moderator is sine squawkin. Windspeaker.com: In a candid discussion hosted by University of British Columbia’s Centre for Excellence in...
September 27, 2023
Haida elder in ‘extreme’ appendicitis pain was allegedly released from B.C. hospital without treatment
Penny Kerrigan says anti-Indigenous racism was behind her hasty discharge from hospital in Terrace This story is part of a series examining systemic discrimination against Indigenous patients within the nursing profession in B.C. To read Part 1 of the series, click here. CBC Indigenous: By the time Penny Kerrigan arrived at Mills Memorial Hospital in northern...
September 26, 2023
Indigenous man’s death after being left unattended in hospital spurs call for ‘culture change’ in nursing
Story of Keegan Combes’s neglect at B.C. hospital fuels nursing college’s anti-racism work Bethany Lindsay, Angela Sterritt · CBC News · Posted: Sep 26, 2023 7:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: September 26 This story is part of a series examining systemic discrimination against Indigenous patients within the nursing profession in B.C. CBC Indigenous: It’s been eight years since Keegan...
September 12, 2023
Racism partly to blame for unequal health care provided to Indigenous women: PHAC study
Indigenous communities are still deeply affected by the 2020 death of Atikamekw woman Joyce Echaquan in a Quebec hospital, where she filmed staff insulting her as she lay dying, Lee Clark said. The Canadian Press/Paul Chiasson NationTalk: Racism and the lack of primary care providers mean off-reserve First Nations, Metis and Inuit women and girls...
August 28, 2023
Barriers like racism, distrust may be main cause of health-care disparities for Indigenous women, study says
National study quantifying health-care inequities is 1st of its kind, lead author says Brishti Basu · CBC News · Posted: Aug 28, 2023 4:27 PM EDT | Last Updated: August 29 CBC News: Just before Tina Campbell had a minor medical procedure recently, she remembered the discrimination she says she felt while trying to access health care nearly two decades...
June 5, 2023
Indigenous coalition urges Canada’s healthcare system to ‘Rise Above Racism’
NationTalk: themessage. Who: A coalition of Indigenous health organizations (First Nations Health Managers Association, First Peoples Wellness Circle and Thunderbird Partnership Foundation); with NationTalk for strategy, creative and media (supported by Cleansheet Communications). What: “Rise Above Racism,” a new government-funded awareness campaign highlighting the issue of anti-Indigenous racism within the Canadian healthcare system. This is the second...
May 9, 2023
Misprescribed and ‘Dumped’ at the Hospital’s Doors
Marilyn Johnson says she faced health-care discrimination because she is Indigenous and lives in the Downtown Eastside. Here’s what needs to change. The Tyee: Marilyn Johnson, a Gitxsan woman, is full of energy. The ends of her hair are dyed blue. She sips her Tim Hortons coffee and smiles from ear to ear when talking...
April 11, 2023
Analysis of anti-Indigenous racism in hospitals reveals pattern of harm, no tracking mechanism
Canada’s National Observer: “Sakihitowin means love,” Pearl Gambler says, recalling the day she gave her daughter her name. It was the day Sakihitowin was born — and died. From Bigstone Cree Nation, Gambler entered Edmonton’s Misericordia Hospital on June 11, 2020, and experienced a series of events that she can only characterize as traumatic and...
September 28, 2022
Ministers Honour Joyce Echaquan and Re-Affirm Commitment to Addressing Anti-Indigenous Racism in Canada’s Health Systems
Indigenous Services Canada: Ottawa, Ontario (September 28, 2022) – The Minister of Indigenous Services, Patty Hajdu, the Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations, Marc Miller, and the Minister of Health, Jean-Yves Duclos, issued the following statement today: “Health care is a human right, and should be free of racism and discrimination. But the systemic discrimination and racism that...
September 22, 2022
Human Rights Tribunal Rejects Attempt to Derail UBCIC’s Challenge to Liver Transplant Discrimination
NationTalk: (xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil Waututh)/Vancouver, B.C. – The British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal (BCHRT) has rejected an attempt by BC health authorities to dismiss UBCIC’s representative complaint against discriminatory access to liver transplants for Indigenous patients. The Provincial Health Services Authority, the BC Transplant Society and Vancouver Coastal Health Authority are...
February 3, 2022
“Remembering Keegan – a BC First Nations Case Study Reflection”
Feb. 23, 2022: First Nations Health Authority – FNHA today announced the public release of its report titled “Remembering Keegan – a BC First Nations Case Study Reflection”. Keegan Combes was a 29-year old First Nations man who died in hospital in 2015 following delayed diagnosis and clinical management of a treatable accidental poisoning. “Remembering Keegan” is part...
December 1, 2021
In Plain Sight Report
Victoria Times Colonist – Fewer than half of the 24 recommendations to address Indigenous-specific racism in the province’s health-care system have been fully implemented on the one-year anniversary of the In Plain Sight report. Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond said she’s been “closely” monitoring progress: apologies issued by health system leaders and regulatory bodies, a critical amendment...
April 23, 2021
In Plain Sight Report
Budget 2021 invested $45 million over three years to respond to the recommendations of the “In Plain Sight” report on systemic anti-Indigenous racism in the healthcare system: Expand First Nations cultural safety and humility training and Indigenous liaisons within each regional health authority Address systemic racism against Indigenous people in the health care system through...
February 5, 2021
In Plain Sight Report
Toronto Star – Health Minister Adrian Dix provided an update on his government’s progress on implementing the original 24 recommendations. He said his government is providing funding for 32 Indigenous health liaisons in health authorities across the province, of which nine are already in place. It has also ensured that each health authority board has...
February 4, 2021
In Plain Sight: Supplemental Report
Toronto Star – Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond released a supplemental data report Thursday that shows Indigenous people in B.C. are much more likely to feel unsafe in health-care settings, to feel they are never included in care decisions and to feel they receive poorer service than others. “Taken together, these … reports clearly demonstrate the need...
January 28, 2021
Racism against Indigenous womern
Native Women’s Association of Canada – At a two-day meeting at which the issue of anti-Indigenous racism in Canada’s healthcare systems will be addressed by federal, provincial, and territorial governments as well as representatives of the First Nations, Métis and Inuit, NWAC is not being permitted to give more broadly based opening remarks Wednesday, along...
January 28, 2021
Emergency Meeting on Indigenous Health
Assembly of First Nations – AFN National Chief Perry Bellegarde reiterated recommendations and called for urgency in addressing systemic racism in Canada’s health care systems at a two-day virtual meeting with federal, provincial and territorial ministers and Metis and Inuit leaders that ended today. The meeting, convened by Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller, Crown-Indigenous Relations...
December 1, 2020
In Plain Sight Report
Toronto Star – The independent investigation – touted as the first complete review of racism in a Canadian health-care system – released its report “In Plain Sight: Addressing Indigenous-specific Racism and Discrimination in B.C. Health Care“. The investigation has found pervasive systemic racism against Indigenous people in this province based on the following findings: Widespread...
December 1, 2020
In Plain Sight Report
Métis Nations of BC is calling on the B.C. government to urgently implement all the recommendations found in Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond’s report…and its 24 recommendations in an expedited timeframe. This includes implementing the recommendation, “that the Ministry of Health establish a structured senior level health relationship table with MNBC, and direct health authorities to enter...
October 16, 2020
Emergency Meeting on Indigenous Health
Emergency meeting on racism in Canada’s healthcare system. AFN recommendations to all levels of government: Work directly with First Nations to ensure that Indigenous Peoples feel safe accessing health care services. Quebec needs to work with First Nations to fully implement the Viens Commission Report’s recommendations. Canada must conduct an immediate review of the Canada...
July 9, 2020
In Plain Sight Report
Government of BC – An independent investigation into Indigenous-specific racism in British Columbia’s health care system was launched today by former judge and provincial child advocate Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond. Appointed by Health Minister Adrian Dix on June 19 after highly disturbing allegations of racism in B.C. Emergency rooms came to light, Turpel-Lafond has now assembled...
June 19, 2020
In Plain Sight Report
NationTalk – First Nations, Métis and Inuit patients seeking emergency medical services in British Columbia are often assumed to be intoxicated and denied medical assessments, contributing to worsening health conditions resulting in unnecessary harm or death. This is according to information obtained by Métis Nation BC and the BC Association of Aboriginal Friendship Centres. Additionally,...
December 10, 2018
Forced Sterilizations
72 organizations endorse the joint statement from Amnesty International Canada, the Native Women’s Association of Canada, and Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights, calling for government action to #DefendConsent and end #ForcedSterilization of Indigenous women in Canada Canadian Press – All the women interviewed felt that the health system had not served their needs,...
November 22, 2018
Call for national investigation into forced sterilizations
Senator Murray Sinclair, former Chair of the TRC, says Canada needs a national investigation to find out how common coerced sterilizations are among Indigenous women and how they’ve been allowed to continue for so long. http://nationtalk.ca/story/usw-joint-statement-calling-on-canada-to-end-sterilization-without-consent...
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