Implications of Canadian Foreign Policy for Refugee Health

Introduction

The Canadian government has put a lot of funds into developing the countries affected by issues leading to the instability of its peaceful state. The funds aim at infrastructural improvement, peacekeeping, and also to improve the health care of the involved countries. Despite the goodwill funding, the money goes to in just practices that led to even more conflicts in the countries such as Afghanistan. (Eckenwiler, 2017) The media only focuses on the positive side of the Canadian government involvement leaving behind the harmful activities that are taking place due to the rescue project.

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Refugee health has been a priority whereby non-profit organizations that are supposed to help address the issue have taken it rightly. A few years ago, those who claimed refugee status in Canada got the same health care as all other Canadians. Today there has been a change whereby there has been a cut on the program. Refugees can only access limited health care services. A good example is those from Syria who got less than they did before.

The privately sponsored refugees are entitled to provincial health coverage that all other Canadians get. Today, they are covered by a limited number of medical health treatments. The government appealed after the federal court called off the health benefit cuts. The government has promised to reverse the cuts, but it has not indicated when that will implement. To a great extent, those concerned seem to accept that the health problems of economically affected people are natural due to the status quo. That is why few NPOs are paying concerned about the matter.

Due to the lack of required support and care, the affected suffer from diseases such as diabetes which would be under control if health care for refugees win more attention than it is today.

Most of the people suffering from health conditions come from the sub-groups in the country. The main reason for this is reduced medical access by the sub-groups that are they dominate a portion of patients even though they are few compared to the entire native Canadian citizens.

The Non-Profit Organizations have directed the cause of the disease to gene inheritance and also to lifestyle. They have recommended exercise and another measure to control the disease. What they have not put into consideration is the fact that the disease may be caused by social class a lot of refugees have been affected by lack of proper nutrition and other cases caused by their social class, therefore, leading to the spread of the disease. Allowing them to access better health benefits will help them fight the condition thus improving their health.

The government has put the policy in place claiming that it will save at least 20 million dollars that can be used to fund other projects. (Guilcher, 2017)To a great extent, the saving idea may be definite but what about the implications of the act in the long run? It is essential to be aware of illnesses that can be spread from one person or from one group of people to another. If refugee health is not attended to, such diseases may cause a big blow to the country's general health has the government will have failed to take control of it in advance. In case such a situation occurs, more than the 20 million dollars it is saving will be used to treat a larger population of Canadians.

Conclusion

Health matters should not be a matter of debate because every human deserves the right to access proper and quality medical attention. Whether a refugee or a citizen of Canada. The 2012 agreement policy should be put back into effectiveness to help address the health issue.

References

Eckenwiler, L. (2017). Vulnerable Populations: Investigating Ethical Implications for Policies and Practices of International Humanitarian Organizations. Prehospital and Disaster Medicine, 32(S1), S49-S50.

Guilcher, S. (2017). The financial burden of medical drugs for neurological conditions in Canada: Health Policy, 121(4), 389-396.