Updated September 10, 2004

Health

	Photo: Comstock

Health standards and practices have changed considerably over the past 100 years. The last century produced thousands of scientific and technological advances that have improved public health. Many infectious diseases once prevalent in this country—including smallpox and typhoid fever—have been eliminated.

Today, we look at health differently. We now consider that well-being is influenced by factors such as physical fitness, nutrition, the environment and our own genes. There is also a growing recognition that our health is greatly affected by the socio-economic conditions in which we live, learn, work and play.

Medicine today is about more than just treating the sick—it is increasingly about finding innovations to prevent illness in the first place. And Canadians are educating themselves better about their health by using sources of information not available 100 years ago, such as the Internet, and health programs and advice columns in the media.

Canada has been recognized internationally for its efforts to promote health, and Canadians largely think of themselves as healthy people. Compared with people in most other countries, we live longer and suffer from fewer chronic illnesses and disabilities as we age. Despite recent stresses on our health care system, Canadians in general continue to enjoy universal access to insured medical health services.

But it's not the same for all Canadians—differences exist from coast to coast. Factors such as age, sex, place of residence, and socio-economic status can have a notable impact on well-being. Indeed, a 1998 United Nations report on health recognized that Canada has an enviable standard of living, but that not everyone in the country has an equal opportunity to enjoy it.