OTTAWA – Canada’s perennial shortage of doctors, nurses and other medical professionals tops the list of key health challenges for the country, according to a wide-ranging study done for Health Canada.
Its annual survey found one in five Canadian adults identified the shortage of health-care professionals as a top priority. That finding goes hand-in-hand with the 13% who cited long waiting times for medical care as an important concern.
According to The Strategic Counsel, which conducted the survey of 1,750 adults, both issues have been priorities for Canadians in previous Health Canada surveys. But because of the timing of this particular survey – Oct. 8 to 25, 2009 – the H1N1 epidemic also burst onto the list of top worries.
Fourteen per cent of Canadians mentioned it among the “most important” health issues facing the country.
Other top-of-mind health issues cited in the survey were cancer research (by 7% of those asked), the aging population (5%), preventative health care (4%), and emergency services and waiting times for emergency treatment (4%).
The survey also asked respondents to rank a list of issues provided to them. Ensuring the safety of food products and pharmaceuticals was seen as important by 95% of those asked. Encouraging people to live a healthier lifestyle was touted by 89%, as was protecting the “key principles” of medicare, and ensuring the safety of consumer products.
The survey has a margin of error of 2.9 percentage points, 95% of the time.