Racism within the Canadian heath care system has been a continuous challenge for Indigenous people as they struggle to access the necessary health care they need. This has been made especially evident during the COVID-19 pandemic and even in daily medical services, as many medical services and resources are unavailable amongst Indigenous communities. Although the Canadian health care system is considered as universal, Indigenous people continue to experience barriers to health care which has resulted in disproportionate health disparities in comparison to other Canadians.
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Some of the ways in which Indigenous people experience unequal access to health care include having an insufficient number of medical service stations in Indigenous communities. The lack of availability to medical service stations in Indigenous communities has been an issue that has remained unresolved since the tuberculosis outbreak in the 1900's. Indigenous communities received inferior treatment and were racially segregated into Indian hospitals, which resulted in patients staying in hospitals for two-and-a-half years or longer. Those who were infected by Tuberculosis were required to go South, away from their homes and families, for treatment. In addition, the number of deaths among children infected with tuberculosis in residential schools was about 800 deaths per 100,000 children. This also related to the issue of not having medical service stations near their place of residence, which forced Indigenous people to travel outside of their communities to find access to health care. This was due their geographic locations as Indigenous populations often reside in rural, remote areas in Canada. Approximately 80% of Metis live in urban centers and 44.2% of First Nations live in residential areas, making it especially difficult to access proper health care in comparison to the general Canadian population.
The figure above show the difficulty of accessing health care for Indigenous Communities. It illustrates the geographical locations that Indigenous people are populated in and the travel distance between those locations and health care facilities.
Another core issue in Indigenous health care is the unsatification experienced by Indigenous people in their access to health care services. Many Indigenous people experience racial discrimination, disrespect, neglect and abuse when seeking medical treatment. These are manifested in two ways: a lack of healthcare resources and low-quality of medical services. This can be illustrated through the example of Jocelyne Ottawa, a 62 year old Atikamekw woman who reported experiencing racial insults from medical staff during her doctor's appointment. Since there was no clinic within her community, she had to drive to a clinic 70 kilometers northeast of Montreal to have the bandages on her feet replaced. During the receiving medical service, two nurses asked Ottawa to sing them a song in Atikamekw. In addition, they took Ottawa's cellphone without her consent and addressed her as "Joyce" to mock the death of another Indigenous victim of Canada's discriminatory health care system. The reference to "Joyce" is in regards to Joyce Echaquan, who died not long after recording the racist treatment he received from hospital staff on September 28, 2020. Echaquan, an Atikamekw mother of seven, was mocked when pleading for help from medical staff and verbally abused which resulted in her death. She was not given proper medical attention at the hospital and was neglected by the staff. Unfortunately, there are endless examples of Indigenous people experiencing poor treatment when seeking medical help, this has resulted in permanent damage, trauma and conflict between Indigenous communities and the health care system.
Since Joyce Echaquan's death, the Canadian government has been working to improve the systemic racism in the health care system. The government of Canada has listed their objectives moving forward to end the discrimination and unethical treatment of Indigenous patients. The objectives include listening to the experience of Indigenous people from their community and health care professions regarding the racism which they experience in federal, provincial and territorial health care systems. By doing so, the Canadian government will be able to take the proper measures in combating the unfair treatment and neglect that Indigenous people experience. Furthermore, the government can educate themselves regarding the inadequate and discriminatory treatment in the health care system. The government also plans to make changes according to information that is shared by educational institutions, governments, health professionals, colleges and accreditation organizations. The government of Canada plans to implement changes for health care organizations and governments in order to better medical services provided to Indigenous communities. They also plan to implement and adopt Joyce's Principle, which states that Indigenous rights must be respected and protected in the health care system and other social services.
Due to recent events, the federal government has been made aware of Indigenous people's struggle in accessing adequate health care and they have been discussions regarding innovations to improve medical care so that it is more universally available for all Canadians. Despite the presence of the Indian Act (1876), which includes a health-related provision, coordinating the needs of Indigenous communities has been an ongoing struggle for the Canadian government. This is due to many of the legislations regarding Indigenous health care being vague and unclear which has resulted in diversity in health service provision across Canada. However, the government has been trying to improve health care for Indigenous people by implementing programs, funding programs and trying to make changes to the current health care system.
The following are some of the government's incentives to improve health care for Indigenous communities: