Tag Archives: Health Care

Youth

For Teens Who Drink and Do Drugs, Here’s How to Reduce the Harm

Editor’s notes: “In Local Health Area 72 (Campbell River), which includes Cortes and Quadra Islands, 13.5 litres of absolute alcohol are sold per person. This is considerably higher than the Island Health average of 10.9 and the provincial average of 9.0. Given that one litre of absolute alcohol is equivalent to 58 standard drinks, residents of LHA 72 are consuming 783 alcoholic beverages annually, on average” – from the the Cortes Island and Quadra Island profiles

“In Vancouver Island North, which includes Campbell River, Cortes and Quadra Islands, 52% of youth have tried alcohol, compared to 45% provincially. Similarly, 37% of Vancouver Island North youth have tried marijuana, compared to 26% provincially. Tobacco sees a similar trend, with 29% of Vancouver Island North youth trying tobacco, compared to 21% of youth provincially” – from the Cortes Island and Quadra Island profiles

By Michelle Gamage, The Tyee, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

About 40 per cent of Canadian teenagers drank alcohol in the last year and one in five used cannabis, according to a bi-annual Health Canada survey that asks kids about substances. 

The 2021-22 Canadian Student Tobacco, Alcohol and Drugs Survey was filled out by 61,096 kids from Grade 7 to 12 — typically 12 to 17 — in all provinces except New Brunswick, which opted out. This is its 11th year collecting data on tobacco, alcohol, cannabis and drug use. 

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Environment, Politics

Canada’s largest labour organization adopts climate action plan at tri-annual convention

By Natasha Bulowski, Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Despite differences of opinion, a clear majority of delegates voted to adopt the Canadian Labour Congress’ (CLC) proposed climate action plan at its tri-annual convention in Montreal.

On May 9, workers representing local, regional and national unions weighed in on a climate action plan that will shape the mandate of Canada’s largest labour organization for the next three years. This is the first time the CLC, which represents more than three million workers across the country, has devised action plans as well as policy resolutions for different topics, including climate change, Indigenous justice, affordability, infrastructure, health care and organizing.

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Health

B.C. moves to attract foreign nurses to overcome critical staffing crisis

By Fabian Dawson, New Canadian Media, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Desperate for healthcare workers, British Columbia announced today a series of initiatives, including bursaries of $16,000 each for 1,500 internationally educated nurses (IENs), to enter the province’s health system.

The $9 million in bursaries will go towards helping IENs get registered and licensed faster in B.C., the provincial ministry of health said in a  statement .

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Health

In Plain Sight: widespread racism in Health Care system

By Moira Wyton, The Tyee, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

An Indigenous woman wakes up in a hospital far from her rural community in 2018 and again in 2019, dry heaving after both of her  surgeries.

She thinks she could be  allergic to the sedative, but the nurse assumes she is going through  withdrawal, despite the fact she hadn’t been drinking before either  surgery. “You people drink too much,” the nurse says, and moves the  woman to a bed where she doesn’t get further care for three days.

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Community, Indigenous Nations

Team investigating racism in health care receive wave of degrading emails

By Bayleigh Marelj, The Discourse, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The executive director of a study investigating racism in health care says she and her colleagues have been on the receiving end of racist and degrading emails. 

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