The pan-Canadian children’s health advocacy organization, Children’s Health Canada, is sounding the alarm about the care of children and adolescents in the country. He calls on the federal government to act and give more funding to the provinces to help them.
Children’s Health Canada brings together pediatric health experts from across the country. On the board of directors, we find people from the CHU de Québec-Université Laval, the CHU Sainte-Justine and the Shriners Hospital for Children of Canada, located in Montreal.
In a report released Monday, the organization paints a poor picture of the care provided to children. It indicates that Canada was ranked in 2010 among the top 10 countries in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) for its child health outcomes. However, Canada’s position has fallen to thirtieth place out of 38 countries, according to UNICEF’s 2020 Innocenti Report 16.
“Health care organizations serving children and youth are facing unprecedented demands for services,” the report said. Additionally, staff shortages make it difficult to meet the demand of a growing population of children and adolescents who have complex medical needs.
“Child health outcomes in Canada are getting worse every year. We have a moral and financial obligation to act to reverse this trend, for our children and for our collective future. It’s now or never,” Emily Gruenwoldt, president and CEO of Children’s Health Canada, said in a statement.
The organization is urging the federal government to make the health and well-being of children a national priority, including by creating a position of chief children’s health officer and launching a national children’s strategy. It also recommends that Ottawa set aside protected budgetary envelopes for provinces and territories to strengthen their pediatric health systems across the entire continuum of care, including in research.
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