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The degree to which Canadians support effective international co-operation, as essential to future pandemic preparedness and response, will shape Canada’s positioning on the draft international pandemic treaty. (Shutterstock)

The WHO’s international pandemic treaty: Meaningful public engagement must inform Canada’s negotiations

Immigrant women working in the care sector do the essential work many Canadians rely on, but low wages mean many need to work past retirement age. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn

Working more and making less: Canada needs to protect immigrant women care workers as they age

Immigrant care workers are having to work into retirement age to make ends meet. The Canadian government must do more to support them.
Stereotypes about the elderly having more than their fair share can be heightened during times of crisis when resources are seen to be scarce. (Shutterstock)

The pandemic played into ageist stereotypes, but intergenerational contact can overcome them

To reduce ageist perceptions of older people, we should encourage collectivist norms and the importance of acting for the common good.
Red mitochondria in airway cells become coated with green SARS-COV-2 proteins after viral infection: Researchers discovered that the virus that causes COVID-19 damages lungs by attacking mitochondria. (Stephen Archer)

COVID-19 attacks mitochondria in the lungs

COVID-19 causes lung injury and lowers oxygen levels in patients because the SARS-CoV-2 virus attacks cells’ mitochondria. This attack is a throwback to a primitive war between viruses and bacteria.
Exemptions from funding cuts are needed to ensure trans and non-binary people can get medical care. (Shutterstock)

Ontario telehealth cuts mean fewer trans, non-binary people have access to health care

The closure of the virtual Connect-Clinic means fewer trans and non-binary people will get the vital health-care services they need.
People protest outside the Tendercare Living Centre long-term-care facility in Scarborough, Ont. during the COVID-19 pandemic in December 2020. This LTC home was hit hard by the second wave of COVID-19. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette

Why for-profit homes won’t solve long-term care issues

Privatization is an idea that — like a zombie —just won’t die. It’s re-emerging with calls to solve the long-term care crisis with for-profit care homes. Evidence refutes the same old arguments.
For workers in long-term care homes, distress due to difficult working conditions is often dismissed as a part of the job description. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes

5 steps for tackling Canada’s long-term care crisis: It starts with valuing the well-being of workers

The long-term care sector is currently being held together by a very vulnerable workforce, and is at risk of failing without immediate solutions.
Throughout the pandemic, much discussion about COVID-19 transmission focused on individual-level decisions, making it easy to blame the unvaccinated. (Pixabay)

Beyond vaccine hesitancy: Understanding systemic barriers to getting vaccinated

Systemic social issues affect vaccine access and acceptability. Yet, the term ‘vaccine hesitancy’ overlooks this, reducing the multiple factors that affect vaccine uptake to individual-level choices.
A virology lab researcher works to develop a test that will detect the P.1 variant of the coronavirus, in São Paulo, Brazil, in March 2021. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)

Why we need open-source science innovation — not patents and paywalls

In open-source endowed research positions, professors release all of their intellectual property. Surveys of academics in the U.S. and Canada find most like the idea.
Parents need practical strategies to balance the health risks and stressors of kids getting sick as we trudge through the virulent flu, RSV and COVID-19 winter season. (Pexels)

Fears about RSV, flu and winter viruses can cause parental stress. Try these 4 expert tips to balance mental wellness and health risks

Evidence-based tools for dialectical behaviour therapy can help us manage family stressors during the virulent respiratory virus season.
People wait to be vaccinated against COVID-19 in Zagreb, Croatia, in November 2021. Countries throughout central and eastern Europe have high COVID-19 infection and death rates, but for a surprising reason — the post-communism privatization of health care. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

After the Cold War: Why COVID-19 infection and death rates were so high in eastern Europe

COVID-19 infection and death rates in former Eastern Bloc countries suggest the fall of communism was detrimental to the health and well-being of eastern Europeans.
The pandemic posed serious challenges to Canada’s immigration system, but it also provides an opportunity to start creating a system that is fairer for all. (Shutterstock)

The pandemic created challenges and opportunities for Canadian immigration

As Canada plans to welcome 500,000 new permanent residents a year by 2025, the government must make changes to make the immigration system more fair and transparent.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Health Minister Sylvia Jones in conversation at Queen’s Park, the day after Ontario’s chief medical officer of health ‘strongly recommended’ mask wearing. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young

With COVID, flu and RSV circulating, it’s time to follow the evidence: Return to mask mandates

In 2020, with adult ICUs at risk of being overwhelmed, we wore masks and accepted restrictions. Now pediatric intensive care is at risk. Will leaders follow the evidence and tell us to mask up?

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