Picture of Barbara Sibbaldby Barbara Sibbald, Editor, News and Humanities, CMAJ

For the past 30 years, in poll after poll with only one exception, Canadians have declared that health care is the most important issue they face. For this election, the health issues are complex and numerous: our aging population, physician-assisted dying, mental health and pharmacare, to name but a few.

The following is a selection of CMAJ articles on health care issues that the new government will have to address, regardless of their stance during the election.

News: Election 2015: Health primer

The federal role in health care

Editorial: We deserve a government that respects scientific integrity

Editorial:  Why the federal government must lead in health care

Editorial: Austerity and fiscal prudence are health issues

News: Dire prognostication with death of Health Accord

Editorial:  The new federal health strategy: give the money and run

News: Reining in public spending on health

Seniors strategy

News: Physicians want action on seniors’ care

News: Canadians want seniors’ care program

News: Canada needs seniors’ health strategy: Report Card

Aboriginal health

News: Aboriginal youth suicide rises in Northern Ontario

News: HIV in Saskatchewan merits urgent response

Editorial: Caring for Aboriginal patients requires trust and respect, not courtrooms

News: Nunavut calls inquest into record number of suicides

Research: Rates of stillbirth by gestational age and cause in Inuit and First Nations populations in Quebec

Commentary: Tuberculosis in Nunavut: looking back, moving forward

News: Aboriginal health programming under siege, critics charge

Physician-assisted dying

News: Assurance for MDs who refuse to assist in dying

News: CMA developing assisted death guidelines

News: Many doctors won’t provide assisted dying

Blog:  Physician-assisted dying in Canada: the gavel has fallen

Commentary: Physician-assisted death: time to move beyond Yes or No

News: Quebec’s end-of-life bill makes palliative care more transparent

Humanities (book review): Helping certain patients end their lives

Editorial: Choosing when and how we die: Are we ready to perform therapeutic homicide?

Research:  Attitudes of cancer patients, family caregivers, oncologists and members of the general public toward critical interventions at the end of life of terminally ill patients

Commentary: Navigating assisted death and end-of-life care

Research: Physician-assisted deaths under the euthanasia law in Belgium: a population-based survey

Mental health

Research: Child abuse and mental disorders in Canada

News: Mental illness stigma in health care settings a barrier to care

News: Police call for more mental health services

Research: The effect of physical multimorbidity, mental health conditions and socioeconomic deprivation on unplanned admissions to hospital: a retrospective cohort study

Research: Wait times in the emergency department for patients with mental illness

Commentary: Mental health impact of detention and temporary status for refugee claimants under Bill C-31

News: Mental health strategy needs national buy-in

Review: Common mental health problems in immigrants and refugees: general approach in primary care

Pharmacare

Research: Estimated cost of universal public coverage of prescription drugs in Canada

Analysis:  The road to competitive generic drug prices in Canada

Research: The effect of cost on adherence to prescription medications in Canada

Editorial: Can Canada get on with national pharmacare already?

News: Zombies, myths and pharmacare