The Greek founder of the Western medical tradition, Hippocrates, (who created the Hippocratic Oath sworn by doctors) pointed out that inequalities in health are tied to social circumstances. Some groups in ancient Greece had higher rates of sickness and died earlier than others.
This is true in all countries, including Canada today. People who are poor live shorter, sicker lives than those who are better off. Aboriginal people have higher rates of almost all diseases and much shorter life spans than non-Aboriginals. The poor get sick more often, dying sooner than those who are richer.
This is Health 101 in a nutshell. What the course material shows is that social policy is more important in determining health than individual lifestyle decisions about what to eat or how much exercise to get. So, for one of their assignments, students must pick a topic from the course and write to a federal or provincial political leader to ask for a change in policy that would improve the health of Canadians.
