Improving Health Outcomes For Pad And The Caribbean Community

AMCHASSE calls for a local, regional, and national Health Strategy to address the health crisis impacting the Afrikan Black and Caribbean communities.

“Toronto has the largest Black population in the country, with 442,015 people or 36.9% of Canada’s Black population, ” www150.statcan.gc.ca.

According to our extensive research from peer-reviewed articles and empirical evidence on the ground confirming our research, it shows, the health of the “Black” community is in crisis. Documents reports and articles report Afrikans “Blacks” and Caribbean people are experiencing disproportionately higher rates of hypertension, diabetes, obesity, and other chronic dis-eases more than the general population of “Whites” and other populations. These dis-eases lead to our premature deaths. The research shows, complications due to diabetes are the leading cause of death in the “Black” Community.

One study showed black women were among those reporting the highest levels of psychosocial stress, the largest increase in high blood pressure rates, and one of the only groups that saw increases in smoking rates. Another showed Black women were more likely to be physically inactive and obese than the overall population.

A 437-page report by public health called The Key Health Inequalities in Canada, A National Portrait, signed by the Chief Public Health Officer of Canada and Chief Medical Officer of Health published in 2018 confirms the findings of previous studies. It states, “Diabetes prevalence in Canada was significantly higher among Black, and other groups…” This report also states there is “an increase in obesity in Black men and boys which leads to an increase in cardiovascular risk factors”. This report confirms the empirical evidence we are witnessing on the ground.

This health crisis is twofold, the physical and the mental health of the community are equally impacted, compounding the seriousness of his medical catastrophe waiting to happen.

Not only are the research papers calling for interventions the UN’s report to Canada by the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent (2017) calls for the Government of Canada to “address the urgent mental health crisis in the African Canadian community through a review of mental health legislation, operational priorities, and guidelines.”

The report also urges the government “to remove all obstacles that prevent the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights by people of African descent especially in the areas of education, housing, employment, and health.

Again, our research is supported by a 2020 report titled, “Canada needs a “Health in All Policies” action plan now,” the report calls for a federal strategy to “minimize social and health-related harms.” The authors write, “Despite a massive increase in public funding for health care over decades, Canada’s health system performance compared with other wealthy nations has steadily declined and the health of Canadians has improved more slowly than that of residents of other wealthy countries, with evidence emerging that health equity is now decreasing”.

The statistics are alarming but equally shocking the vast majority of people in the Afrikan “Black and Caribbean community are unaware of the crisis, many of whom are impacted have resigned themselves to their fate of being chronically sick due to a poor, ineffective, culturally inappropriate health supports, the research shows.

References

Allan Buka Jones (2015, Sept 24.) Healthy reasoning: Caribbean-Canadians and Blacks at high risk for diabetes. Retrieved from: http://pridenews.ca

Baiju R. S. (2015) Utilization of physician services for diabetic patients from ethnic minorities Journal of Public Health, Volume 30, Issue 3, 1 September 2008, Pages 327–331, Retrieved https://academic.oup.com

Black Health Alliance (2018). Chronic and infectious diseases. Retrieved from http://blackhealth alliance.ca

Canada.ca. (2018). Key Health Inequities in Canada A National Portrait. Available at: https://www.canada.ca/content/dam/phac-aspc/documents/services/publications/science-research/key-health-inequalities-canada-national-portrait-executive-summary/hir-full-report-eng.pdf

Canadian Medical Association (2013) Health Equity and the Social Determinants of Health: A Role for the Medical Profession Retrieved from https://policybase.cma.ca/documents/policypdf/PD13-03.pdf

Tonelli, M., Tang, K., & Forest, P. (2020). Canada needs a “Health in All Policies” action plan now. Canadian Medical Association Journal, 192(3), E61-E67. doi:10.1503/cmaj.190517

Chiu, M., Austin, P. C., Manuel, D. G., & Tu, J. V. (2010). Comparison of cardiovascular risk profiles among ethnic groups using population health surveys between 1996 and 2007. Canadian Medical Association Journal, 182(8), E301-E310. doi:10.1503/cmaj.091676

Chiu, M., Maclagan, L. C., Tu, J. V., & Shah, B. R. (2015). Temporal trends in cardiovascular disease risk factors among white, South Asian, Chinese and black groups in Ontario, Canada, 2001 to 2012: a population-based study. BMJ Open, 5(8), e007232. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2014-007232

City of Toronto (2018). Ward 7 – York West City of Toronto Ward Profiles 2016 Census, Population Highlights Retrieved from https://www.toronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018

Lebrun, LA, & LaVeist, TA (2013). Health status among Black Canadians: Results from a national survey. Canadian Ethnic Studies, 45 (1), 143-155. Retrieved from https://libproxy.wlu.ca

National Collaborating Centre for Healthy Public Policy (2010, February). Thirteen public interventions in Canada that have contributed to a reduction in health inequalities Retrieved from http://www.ncchpp.ca

Nguemo JD, Iroanyah N, Husbands W, et al Substance use disorders among African, Caribbean, and Black (ACB) people in Canada: a scoping review protocol BMJ Open 2019;9: e028985. DOI: 10.1136/BMJ open-2019-028985

Ollner, A., Sekharan, A., Truong, J., & Vig, V. (2011). Jane-Finch youth speak out: Turf violence well-being. The assets coming together for youth project

Tonelli, M., Tang, K., & Forest, P. (2020). Canada needs a “Health in All Policies” action plan now. Canadian Medical Association Journal, 192(3), E61-E67. doi:10.1503/cmaj.190517

Veenstra, G., & Patterson, A. C. (2015). Health differences between black and white Canadians:

Revisiting Lebrun and LaVeist (2011, 2013). Canadian Ethnic Studies, 47(3), 163-176. Retrieved from https://libproxy.wlu.ca

Veenstra, G. & Patterson, A.C. J Immigrant Minority Health (2016) 18: 51. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-014-0140-6

Diversity of the Black population in Canada: An overview. (2019, February 27). Retrieved from https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/89-657-x/89-657-x2019002-eng.htm