The use of health care service differs with sexuality according to new research in Canada.
The study looked into medical care such as having a regular doctor, and how often certain procedures are made available to patients. About 346,000 adults identified themselves as gay, lesbian or bisexual in the survey, and overall it suggested that the use of health-care services differs by sexuality independent of other factors such as age, income, education and health status.
It also found that “gay men were much more likely than heterosexual men to have consulted medical specialists or mental-health service providers such as social workers and that Lesbians were less likely than heterosexual women to have seen a family doctor during the same period or to have undergone a pap test” According to The Canadian Press.
Summarizing his findings, the study’s author, Michael Tjepkema, quoted on a Health Disparities Blog:
"It is true that gays, lesbians, bisexual men and women do access different types of the health-care system differently from heterosexual Canadians"
The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT) community have also picked up on the difference, claiming that LGBT cancer patients are treated with less services than heterosexual patients.
So what does this mean for the gay community?
Our ideologies that we live in an open-minded and fair society are still very much misconceived it would seem. And this is certainly not the first time health issues have been raised due to sexuality.
Staying focused on Canada, “The Canadian Red Cross (CRC) donor screening application is homophobic and gender exclusive.” According to a LiveJournal entry entitled “Gay and Bi Male Blood Ban”.
It also goes on to say: “According to Canadian gay rights groups, specifically question 15, which asks donors if they have participated in any of the following activities since 1977, " if male, Having sex with another male, even once; receiving regular Treatment with blood or blood products; accepting money or drugs In exchange for sex; being the sexual partner of someone who has taken part in any of the above activities or who had contracted AIDS or has tested positive for AIDS". Some Students’ Associations have taken the step of banning the CRC from their campuses.”
It would appear obvious that in Canada, homosexuality is still frowned upon.
But even so, it wasn’t all that long ago that the debate was discussed here in the UK.
Thinking Difference Blog claims that the fact that “men who have engaged in sex with other men in the past 25 years cannot donate blood” is “shocking”.
The author then asks why this is, when “as far as I know, most of the other STDs are quite common in heterosexual relations as well.”
This in mind, it is easy to claim we would not have any qualms if it were known we were receiving a homosexuals blood in a transfusion, but it is a different matter actually going through with it. With statistics flying around that a homosexual’s blood is at an extremely higher risk of being HIV positive, it is difficult not to be concerned.
However, it could also be argued that a simple test beforehand could overcome this debate and prejudice. So then, why has it not been introduced already? Perhaps if homosexuals were aided with more health-care, this would not be an issue.
The study looked into medical care such as having a regular doctor, and how often certain procedures are made available to patients. About 346,000 adults identified themselves as gay, lesbian or bisexual in the survey, and overall it suggested that the use of health-care services differs by sexuality independent of other factors such as age, income, education and health status.
It also found that “gay men were much more likely than heterosexual men to have consulted medical specialists or mental-health service providers such as social workers and that Lesbians were less likely than heterosexual women to have seen a family doctor during the same period or to have undergone a pap test” According to The Canadian Press.
Summarizing his findings, the study’s author, Michael Tjepkema, quoted on a Health Disparities Blog:
"It is true that gays, lesbians, bisexual men and women do access different types of the health-care system differently from heterosexual Canadians"
The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT) community have also picked up on the difference, claiming that LGBT cancer patients are treated with less services than heterosexual patients.
So what does this mean for the gay community?
Our ideologies that we live in an open-minded and fair society are still very much misconceived it would seem. And this is certainly not the first time health issues have been raised due to sexuality.
Staying focused on Canada, “The Canadian Red Cross (CRC) donor screening application is homophobic and gender exclusive.” According to a LiveJournal entry entitled “Gay and Bi Male Blood Ban”.
It also goes on to say: “According to Canadian gay rights groups, specifically question 15, which asks donors if they have participated in any of the following activities since 1977, " if male, Having sex with another male, even once; receiving regular Treatment with blood or blood products; accepting money or drugs In exchange for sex; being the sexual partner of someone who has taken part in any of the above activities or who had contracted AIDS or has tested positive for AIDS". Some Students’ Associations have taken the step of banning the CRC from their campuses.”
It would appear obvious that in Canada, homosexuality is still frowned upon.
But even so, it wasn’t all that long ago that the debate was discussed here in the UK.
Thinking Difference Blog claims that the fact that “men who have engaged in sex with other men in the past 25 years cannot donate blood” is “shocking”.
The author then asks why this is, when “as far as I know, most of the other STDs are quite common in heterosexual relations as well.”
This in mind, it is easy to claim we would not have any qualms if it were known we were receiving a homosexuals blood in a transfusion, but it is a different matter actually going through with it. With statistics flying around that a homosexual’s blood is at an extremely higher risk of being HIV positive, it is difficult not to be concerned.
However, it could also be argued that a simple test beforehand could overcome this debate and prejudice. So then, why has it not been introduced already? Perhaps if homosexuals were aided with more health-care, this would not be an issue.
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