Poverty & Our Illness System

“Overcoming poverty is not a task of charity, it is an act of justice. 
Like Slavery and Apartheid, poverty is not natural. 
It is man-made and it can be overcome 
and eradicated by the actions of human beings. 
Sometimes it falls on a generation to be great. 
YOU can be that great generation. 
Let your greatness blossom.” —Nelson Mandela

This morning I listened to two interviews about the challenges and what some would say is the crisis of providing healthcare in this province. One of those interviews was with a physician deeply involved in the system in Toronto although in both there was a recognition that we have a multi-billion dollar illness system rather than one dedicated to health. While the current government campaigned on ending so-called hallway medicine in our hospitals it has discovered that this is not straightforward. 

My two take-aways from the interviews are first that with an aging population we must do much better at supporting the elderly in their homes rather than in hospital beds intended for acute care needs. The second is that poverty is a key factor and perhaps the principle reason for illness. And when poor people get sick because of inadequate diets, or substandard housing, they often end up in hospital emergency rooms, in part because they don't have family physicians. Yet developing a wholistic approach when it comes to healthcare seems beyond the grasp of governments. We are all grateful that we have socialized medicine in this country but it is strained to the breaking point. 

During the provincial election campaign I attended a candidates' forum on poverty, an issue which received little attention then and barely registered during the federal election as well. Sadly, the elected Conservative candidate made some of the right noises about addressing poverty but this government has cut funding to many programs for those who are living on the margins. 

When I would join with guests at meal programs in different congregations I served I was often struck by how unhealthy many of them looked, particularly children. These guests were very grateful for the healthy, balanced meals they received and would speak about the difficulty of eating well because of the cost of housing. What is the point of spending billions on that "illness system" when other areas of our social system are contributing to the problem? 

I appreciate that the Poverty Roundtable in Quinte does its best to address the systemic issues in our region. This is an organization which includes a number of faith groups and has leadership from the Rev. Ed Bentley, a retired United Church minister. I'm sure they would agree that without the comprehensive support of governments at every level they are limited in what they can achieve. Their website includes the Mandela quote which reminds us that Christians and all people of good will are called to justice, not just charity.

http://povertyroundtablehpe.ca/prt/