Inequity in access to cancer care: a review of the Canadian literature (abstract)

Cancer Causes Control. 2011 Jan 8. [Epub ahead of print]

Inequity in access to cancer care: a review of the Canadian literature.

Maddison AR, Asada Y, Urquhart R.

Faculty of Medicine, Dalhousie University, 5849 University Ave, Mailbox No. 257, Halifax, NS, B3H 4H7, Canada, andre.maddison@dal.ca.

Abstract

Despite the policy and research attention on ensuring equitable access-equal access for equal need-to health care, research continues to identify inequities in access to cancer services. We conducted a literature review to identify the current state of knowledge about inequity in access to cancer health services in Canada in terms of the continuum of care, disease sites, and dimensions of inequity (e.g., income). We searched MEDLINE, CINAHL, and Embase for studies published between 1990 and 2009. We retrieved 51 studies, which examine inequity in access to cancer services from screening to end-of-life care, for multiple cancer types, and a variety of socioeconomic, geographic, and demographic factors that may cause concern for inequity in Canada. This review demonstrates that income has the most consistent influence on inequity in access to screening, while age and geography are most influential for treatment services and end-of-life care, even after adjusting for patient need. Our review also reports on methods used in the literature and new techniques to explore. Equitable access to cancer care is vitally important in all health systems. Obtaining information on the current status of inequities in access to cancer care is a critical first step toward action.

BSB4uD (Be Smart Before You Donate - see blog posting and income comparisons non-profit employees vs professional salaries) - note updated information on Canadian family physician salaries - average

Blogger Author's  Opinion:  based on these averages, most family physicians are underpaid

Family Physician salaries as per CMAJ April 9th 2010: $225,521. Cdn avg CMAJ

Update:  May 18th, 2010
A separate, unpublished CIHI indice which weights all payments — whether fee-for-service, salary or other form of capitation — for all services, against a national median indicates that Newfoundland and Labrador doctors essentially earn 6.78% less than a national median of $224 875 earned by doctors in 2007–08. On that scale, doctors in Alberta (7.22% above the median) were the highest paid in the country, followed by those in British Columbia (5.84% above), New Brunswick (4.6% above), Saskatchewan (4.24% above), Nova Scotia (1.68% above), Ontario (1.68% below) and Manitoba (4.88% below). Only doctors in Prince Edward Island (18.28% below) and Quebec (28.66% below) earned less than those in Newfoundland and Labrador.
http://www.cmaj.ca/cgi/content/full/182/8/E339?etoc