Advocates Urge Collection Of Racebased Data Via Health Cards To Address Inequities

All Canadian provinces should routinely collect racial and indigenous ID data to address health care inequalities. The best way to do this is to apply for or renew a health card, one group says.

Dr. Andrew Pinto, author of an opinion piece published Monday in the Journal of the Canadian Medical Association, said Black and Indigenous patients receive less care and poorer outcomes, but allowing them to voluntarily provide identifying information could help reduce racism in healthcare to eliminate. System: He said it would help oversee any steps that address stereotypes that lead to the mistreatment of some people.

"We need to bridge this gap and develop customized programs and services," said Pinto, founder of the MAP Center for Urban Health Solutions in St. Petersburg. Toronto

"In Canada, we lack that data in many ways."

Multiracial communities with high rates of certain chronic diseases, including diabetes, heart disease and some forms of cancer, are increasingly turning to racial data to understand factors such as poverty. .

Last fall, Nova Scotia became the first province to begin collecting race-based data, including the African Canadian Health Association, the African Canadian Women's Association, and the Iranian Cultural Association of Nova Scotia. Citizens can provide this information when registering their state health card or renew it every four years. The Nova Scotia Department of Health and Human Services states that residents can provide information at any time as part of the province's Fair Care program.

Pinto said universal collection of this information is part of a standardized and consistent approach when patients receive medical care, rather than having to keep looking for it.

Also, it may not be appropriate to ask for this information when a patient is in pain in the ER.

The comment advises “asking people about their racial and ethnic identity in a safe and transparent manner,” providing training on racism to data collectors, and ensuring that data is not used in any way to reinforce racism or discrimination. The author also noted that race and ethnic identity should not appear in patients' health records.

Manitoba also began collecting data on Aboriginal race, ethnicity and identity in May and asked patients for this information when they registered for hospital treatment.

After consulting with the Manitoba First Secretariat of Health and Social Affairs and the Manitoba Inuit Association, this was considered the quickest and most efficient way to get information, a spokesman for the provincial health organization Shared Health said.

Manitoba is one of the provinces that does not issue health insurance cards.

The Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) has guidelines for racial and ethnic identity data collection standards by province and territory. In a report last year, he said governments should enter into data governance agreements with tribal peoples and include culturally safe ways of sharing information.

According to the report, the Standard was developed by the Ontario Government's Anti-Racism Directorate to identify and monitor systemic racism in the public sector. This is a racial category that excludes racial origin. So, for example, Koreans choose "East Asian" and people from Afghanistan, Iran, or Lebanon choose "Middle Eastern" to identify their origin. Some other categories include Native Americans, South Asians, and Whites of European descent.

In British Columbia, groups have called for racial data to be collected after several young South Asians, including international students, died from drug overdoses.

The exact number of these deaths is not available in the coroner's reports, which break down poisoning deaths by age, sex and community.

However, the state does not collect data on race to assess any interventions in potentially marginalized drug-using communities.

Kulpreet Singh, founder of the South Asian Mental Health Alliance, said the group provided feedback to the health committee on the need for racially disaggregated information to help people struggling with chronic drug addiction in times of crisis.

A report released last November said isolation can be exacerbated by prejudice against newcomers to Canada and by preventing people from accessing medical care.

“If there are certain demographic groups or certain demographic segments that are disproportionately affected by certain health problems, then we need to be able to intervene. We need data," Singh said in an interview. “That's what other organizations do. They use data to inform their actions. But I wonder why governments can't do the same.”

British Columbia has launched a survey to uncover systemic racism in the public sector.

"We have heard from many indigenous and ethnic groups that they are being left behind because government services are not tailored to them," Minister and Minister for Citizen Services Lisa Beer said in a statement last week. The survey is open until the end of September.

However, Singh called the investigation a delaying tactic that undermines accountability after several commissions and consultations examined barriers to equality.

"We are aware of the impact systemic racism is having on marginalized communities across Canada, so we are not at a point at this time where we are conducting further research."

Pinto and Singh said the breed community is open to answering questions about race and believes in the rationale for collecting such data, some of which has targeted critical resources during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The harm of not gathering information is greater than gathering information," Singh said.

This Canadian press release was first published on June 26, 2023

Canadian Press health insurance is supported in partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.

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