Underfunding in pediatric health services is leaving Canada's children sick, hungry and untreated.
Children have little, if any political influence and have to rely on adults to do their talking.
So, Canada's pediatricians have begun letter-writing campaigns, lobby activities and committee reviews, not only in major cities like Calgary, but also in smaller centres across the country as diverse as Fredericton and Brandon, Man., to do just that. Underfunded pediatric services are significant because sick, hungry and untreated children result in expensive problems that will be around for a long time. Manitoba is home to one of the highest rates of child poverty in the country. By all accounts, the foremost reason for the increasing number of serious pediatric cases is poverty, though recently there's also been sudden and unexplained increases in pediatric cancer cases. Childhood asthma, respiratory infections, and kidney disease are also climbing.