2007 National Vital Signs Report
Health
This year’s Vital Signs core indicator in health tracks the number of physicians (general practitioners and specialists) per 100,000 people. The trend? Thanks to larger medical school enrollments, the supply of doctors has gone up: an increase of 3.6% between 1997 and 2005. But there is huge variation between communities, as illustrated by the chart below, and large cities tend to have more physicians, per capita, than smaller ones (with the notable exception of Toronto).
Vital Comment
"The consequences of poverty are reflected in most social and health indicators: reduced life expectancy in general and, more specifically, a higher proportion of illnesses or psychosocial problems, low birth weight babies, developmental delays, school dropouts, teenage pregnancies, psychological distress, etc. If we want to make any meaningful gains on the health front, we need to intensify our efforts to improve living conditions, particularly through better access to proper housing and a general improvement of quality of life in the communities where the need is greatest." More »
Richard Lessard, M.D., Director of Public Health, Montréal Regional Health and Social Services Board
