Access to health care in Canada a focus for CMAJ

CMAJ editors Dr. Kirsten Patrick and Dr. Andreas Laupacis ask what the most pressing concern in Canadian health care is today. Their answer? "The problem that people in Canada are struggling with most has been present for a long, long time: getting the health care they need, when they need it. Essentially, the most pressing concern is access."

CMAJ is therefore announcing a new focus on access to health care, and encourages submissions from authors.

As Canada's major medical journal, CMAJ's role is to be a forum for presenting solutions to health care system challenges, whether through publishing high-quality, evidence-based content or innovative ideas from health care professionals, researchers, patients and other stakeholders.

"We acknowledge how difficult it is to effect radical changes in large and complex systems and how important it is to avoid unintended consequences while changing course. We understand that health care is political, which can also impede major change, but advancing workable solutions to Canada's health care access crisis is an urgent need in 2023, and CMAJ is the place for that conversation," they write.

Canada's health care systems were stressed before the pandemic, and COVID-19 further shocked and disrupted these vulnerable systems. Now is the time for big ideas and radical changes to ensure we can meet the health needs of Canadians and ensure access for all.

https://www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.230040