Health Reports

Going to the doctor

By Alice Nabalamba, Health Statistics Division, and Wayne J. Millar, formerly with that division

The Canada Health Act, which was adopted in 1984, mandates universal rights of access to publicly funded medically necessary health care, free of financial or other barriers.  No one may be discriminated against on the basis of factors such as income, age and health status.  Among the models that have been devised to examine the association between the need for health care and the use of services is that proposed by Andersen, which assumes that three types of factors come into play when individuals seek care:  the state of their health, their predisposition toward using services, and their ability to obtain services.  These factors are categorized as: need, predisposing and enabling. 

Second or subsequent births to teenagers

By Michelle Rotermann, Health Statistics Division

Compared with women in their twenties and thirties, teenagers are much less likely to give birth.  For example, in 2003, there were 14.5 live births per 1,000 girls aged 15 to 19, compared with 96.1 per 1,000 women aged 25 to 34 — the age group with the highest fertility rate.  Moreover, the fertility rate among teenagers has fallen almost steadily since the mid-1970s.  Even so, a substantial number of teen girls give birth each year, and some bear more than one baby before turning 20. 

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