By Vittorio Hernandez

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Canadians are in search of a better and expanded public health system that would cure ailments faster and cover more medical services.

These findings are the result of a year-long public consultation on Canada's health system made by the Canadian Medical Association. The group released the results of the consultation on Wednesday.

The respondents to the consultation gave Canada's medical system a low grade for failing to address their needs, particularly of vulnerable groups such as seniors, those with chronic ailments, aborigines and mental health patients.

The consultation elicited almost 1,500 responses through six public town hall meetings in Halifax, Toronto, Edmonton and La Prairie, and 4,000 online comments.

Among the complaints of Canadians were:

1. Long wait times for consultations and treatments

2. High cost of drugs

3. poor state of hospital wards

4. too much spending on administration and less on frontline services and workers by medical institutions

5. corruption among surgeons who offer an operation the next day in exchange for a $2,000 bribe

Jeff Turnbull, president of CMA, said that Canadians are not seeking new investments in health care, but want better use of existing funds. He said that Canadians have a deep respect for the country's health care system, but they expressed concern about its poor state.

 

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World - Canadian Health System Fails Elderly and Chronically Ill | Global Viewpoint