Canada needs a child health-care strategy

Children represent Canada’s future. They are the ones who will innovate, overcome, and inspire a healthier, more prosperous planet. But they can only do this if they themselves are healthy. Unfortunately, their health and well-being is in jeopardy due to the state of Canada’s child healthcare system. Where our nation once ranked highly for child health outcomes, we are now in the bottom 10 of OECD countries. Hannah Baillie is director of policy for the Young Canadians Roundtable on Health. Photograph courtesy of Hannah Baillie The number of children experiencing depression and anxiety symptoms has doubled since 2019. Children are waiting longer and longer to receive life-saving operations. Across Canada, 35-65 per cent of children are waiting longer than is clinically safe for surgical interventions. This causes direct harm to youth when developmental milestones are missed. These shortcomings have consequences, and they will last a lifetime. The federal government’s 2023 budget clearly indicates that health care is a priority. With close to $200-billion in investment over the next 10 years, there is a variety of new initiatives and projects that aim to improve the public health-care system. Universal dental care, reducing backlogs, improving family and mental health services, and modernizing the health-care system are commendable leading priorities. Expanding access to dental care, introducing a new grocery rebate, and providing funding for Indigenous health initiatives are all positive steps that the government has taken in 2023 to address the needs of Canada’s population. But what about children’s health? Despite the new funding channels and priorities, there is a clear lack of consistency, cohesion, and dedication when it comes to children’s health care in Canada. The piecemeal projects proposed to date will not resolve the overarching, systemic, and entrenched issues with our country’s child health-care system. This will require strategy, consultation, and determination. In November 2022, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met with provincial premiers and agreed to provide $2-billion in funding to address surgical and emergency backlogs in children’s hospitals. This was a monumental step in the right direction to address some of the most pressing issues in child health care. It is vital that these funds, once they receive federal budget approval, are released to children’s hospitals immediately to have a real impact on the health and well-being of Canadian children. Delaying the transfer would only allow the problems to persist and worsen. Consider the youth mental health crisis. Since the beginning of COVID-19, over 70 per cent of children reported worsening symptoms of depression, anxiety, irritability, shorter attention spans, hyperactivity, and obsessions. That’s two out of every three children in Canada. The number of children diagnosed with eating disorders has increased threefold. To make matters worse, children are being admitted with more severe forms of the illness, in part due to long wait times for treatment. What does this mean for our future? Research looking into the long-term impacts of poor child health-care outcomes are staggering. One National Institutes of Health study showed that children who have persistent and untreated mental illnesses go on to face long-term economic losses as a result of their conditions. Every day that passes when a child is waiting for medical care delays their developmental, social, and academic goals. But not all hope is lost. With the right strategy and structure in place, Canada can revitalize our child health-care system. Countries like Norway, Sweden, and Finland—who are at the top of the OECD child health outcomes list—all have robust child health-care strategies. These strategies act as a framework that holds the government accountable to act on their child health priorities. A national child health strategy would enable Canada to deliver world-class health care to a growing population of over eight million children and youth. Imagine a vision of children’s health care where no child must wait for diagnostic, developmental, surgical or rehabilitation services; where pediatric care systems are strengthened to withstand growing demands; and where children are able to access innovative hospital- and community-based programs in mental health and have timely access to diagnostic and developmental services in their own community. This vision is within reach. We can set ourselves up for success by making children’s health a priority through annual, sustained investments across the entire continuum of care for children and developing a concrete plan of action supported by accountability, implementation and data measures that will meaningfully impact health outcomes for children across Canada. The current government has demonstrated its commitment to revitalizing and modernizing the health-care system across the country. What is needed now is a strategy that harnesses the potential of every investment, every project, and every child. Canada needs a child health-care strategy. And we need it soon. Hannah Baillie is director of policy for the Young Canadians Roundtable on Health. The Hill Times