When we talk to immigrants about things they most value in living in Canada, one of the first things they would mention is health care privileges. “You can rush to a doctor or a hospital with your health card and not worry that you do not have enough money to pay for the health care services you badly need,” one of them said.
But many of us do not use those health care services available in our communities. We only seek them when we are seriously ill. This is especially true among us Filipinos who are used to our ways in our country of origin wherein it is very expensive to see a doctor or go to a hospital. We do not usually have annual health check-ups except when required by our place of work, which usually covers the expenses.
Hepatitis C is a major public health concern in certain immigrant ethnic communities in Canada. These communities have also been identified as having a higher risk for other viral infections such as Hepatitis B and HIV that are spread in a similar way. It is important to be tested for these three viruses because of the high rates of infection in many people’s home countries.
The Canadian Ethnocultural Council (CEC) a non-profit, non-partisan, non-governmental organization representing 30 national ethnocultural organizations has partnered with the Canadian Liver Foundation in providing community leadership to raise awareness on how the viruses of these diseases are spread, prevented and treated.
Five communities in Canada: the Vietnamese, Chinese, Egyptian, South Asian and Filipino have been selected to create awareness and knowledge in their own communities. Twenty five healthcare providers (five from each community) in each five cities – Vancouver, Calgary, Winnipeg, Toronto and Montreal were trained using the culturally appropriate resources on hepatitis C, B and HIV developed through the CEC recent project (2013-2014) “Hepatitis C and Related Communicable Diseases in High Risk-Immigrant Ethnic Communities”.
The twenty five health care providers who were trained will then facilitate workshops in their communities across Canada. They will provide leadership to empower their communities to take necessary action for their health. It is important that we are aware that getting tested is the only way to know if you are affected, that there are effective treatments and they work best when started early. Our action may help save not only our own lives but those of members of our family. Let us move with vigour and commitment for the benefit of our communities.
Fact sheets on English, French and Tagalog will be made available for anyone interested in information about Hepatitis C Hepatitis B and HIV. These fact sheets were prepared for easy reading and contain resources that can be contacted for further information. Leaders in the community who were invited to attend the workshops head community organizations that are accessible. Anyone who is interested in attending the workshop can come. Admission is free and light refreshments are provided. The workshop in the Greater Toronto Area will be held at the Markham Federation of Filipino Canadians(MFFC) on March 4, 2014, 1151 Denison Road, Markham, Ontario 10:00AM -2:00 PM.
REMEMBER: IT IS IMPORTANT TO KNOW THAT THE ONLY WAY TO FIND OUT IF WE HAVE ANY OF THESE DESEASES IS TO BE TESTED. THERE ARE EFFECTIVE TREATMENTS AND THEY WORK BEST WHEN STARTED EARLY