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DEVELOPING Jasper wildfire burns buildings, while poor air quality forces some fire crews out
A fast-moving wildfire has hit Jasper, Alberta, destroying buildings and chasing some wildland firefighters away with dangerously poor air quality.
Canada ranked last in a just-published list of 10 high-income countries when it comes to access to a family doctor for routine medical care.
The proportion of Canadians aged 18 and older who reported access to a primary care provider fell from 93 per cent in 2016 to 86 per cent in 2023, according to a new survey by the Commonwealth Fund (CMWF), a private U.S.-based research group, released Thursday.
While 86 per cent is still high, the report suggests an estimated four million Canadian adults did not have a primary care provider in 2023.
The survey ranked the following countries based on the percentages of people who reported having a regular doctor or a place they usually visit for medical care in 2023:
The CMWF average of the 10 countries is 93 per cent.
"Canada’s 2023 result is significantly lower than the CMWF average," according to the Commonwealth Fund. The survey was published by the Canadian Institute for Health Information. CIHI is an independent, not-for-profit group providing information on health in Canada.
"Lack of access to a primary care provider has been shown to negatively impact the health of individuals and of the population as a whole," according to the report. "Better access to primary health care can lead to better health outcomes, and to fewer emergency department visits and hospitalizations."
The research suggested that lower-income and younger Canadian adults (ages 18 to 34), and men in particular, were the least likely to have a doctor.
Of those, two-in-five respondents without a doctor said they had at least one chronic condition, and about a third took one or more prescription medications.
In 2023, only 26 per cent of Canadians polled said they were able to get a same- or next-day appointments. This is down from 46 per cent in 2016, and "significantly lower" than the CMWF average of 42 per cent. Only 23 per cent of respondents said they found it easy to get care in the evenings, on weekends and on holidays without going to the emergency department. The CMWF average is 32 per cent.
The Commonwealth Fund interviewed 1,000 Canadian adults. Its results were supplemented by additional interviews by the Canadian Institute for Health Information, for a combined total of 4,820 interviews completed across Canada. Interviews were conducted between March 14 and Aug. 20, 2023, over the phone, using random digit dialing overlapping sampling frame telephone design.
The results were then weighted based on demographics by province. More information on methodology is available online.
A fast-moving wildfire has hit Jasper, Alberta, destroying buildings and chasing some wildland firefighters away with dangerously poor air quality.
More than 25,000 people have been displaced from Jasper National Park since wildfires started to threaten the picturesque corner of Alberta Rockies on Monday, but the mayor of its namesake municipality says not everyone received an evacuation alert when it was sent out.
U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday delivered a solemn call to voters to defend the country's democracy as he laid out in an Oval Office address his decision to drop his bid for reelection and throw his support behind Vice President Kamala Harris.
Staff at a Barrie child care centre say they are frustrated by what they call a local MPP's inadequate response after a car crashed through a window in one of the toddler rooms.
The North American Aerospace Defence Command (Norad) intercepted two Russian and two Chinese bombers flying near Alaska Wednesday in what appears to be the first time the two countries have been intercepted while operating together.
Alberta has called in the Canadian Armed Forces to help assist with the worsening wildfire situation in the province.
An analyst and an assistant coach with Canada Soccer are being removed from the Canadian Olympic Team and 'sent home immediately,' according to the Canadian Olympic Committee.
After a handful of Australian water polo players tested positive for COVID-19 this week, questions have emerged around how the spread of the disease will be mitigated at the Summer Olympic Games in Paris.
A B.C. man who was hired to help a non-profit build a food hub but instead spent the money on personal expenses – including travel, restaurants, booze and cannabis – has been ordered to pay more than $120,000 in damages.
A local First Nations elder and veteran is helping to bring the Ojibwe language to a well-known film for the first time.
A cat who fled her Montreal home nearly a decade ago has been reunited with her family after being found in Ottawa.
A woman in Waterloo, Ont. is out thousands of dollars for a car crash she wasn’t involved in.
A swarm of bees living in a lamppost in Winnipeg’s Sage Creek neighbourhood has found a new home for its hive.
Around 100 acres of Manitoba Crown Land near the Saskatchewan border is being returned to the Métis community.
Nova Scotia is suspending the licensed Cape Breton moose hunt for three years due to what the province is calling a “significant drop” in the population.
A well-known childhood prank known as 'nicky nicky nine doors,' or 'ding dong ditch,' has escalated into a more serious game that could lead to charges for some Surrey, B.C. teens.
It's been more than a month since their good friend was seriously hurt in an accident and two teens from Riverview, N.B., are still having a hard time dealing with it.
Halifax bridges have collected thousands of coins from around the world.