Study
| EST. READ TIME 1 MIN.Alternative Medicine in Canada: Use and Public Attitudes
The Fraser Institute conducted a Canadian national survey to determine the prevalence, costs, and patterns of alternative medicine use, such as chiropractic, naturopathic, and herbal therapies. We questioned respondents on their attitudes towards both conventional and alternative health care to gauge public demand for policy action in these areas.
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Cynthia Ramsay
Cynthia Ramsay is a Vancouver-based consultant specializing in health economics. Her report for the Commission on the Future of HealthCare in Canada, headed by the Hon. Roy Romanow, is included in The Fiscal Sustainability of Health Care in Canada , a collection of essays published by the University of Toronto Press in 2004. She also contributed a chapter to Dr. David Gratzer's book, Better Medicine: Reforming Canadian Health Care , and she is the author of The Fraser Institute publication on natural health products, A Cure Worse than the Illness (February 2002) . As well, she authored Beyond the Public-Private Debate: An Examination of Quality, Access and Cost in the Health-Care Systems of Eight Countries , which was released in July 2001 by Western Sky Communications Ltd.In addition to consulting, Ms. Ramsay is owner and publisher of the Jewish Independent , formerly the Jewish Western Bulletin , British Columbia's only Jewish community newspaper. From 1993 to 1998, Ms. Ramsay was senior health economist at The Fraser Institute in Vancouver. She wrote the institute's study on medical savings accounts for Canada, co-authored numerous editions of the Institute's annual waiting list survey, and is co-editor of the Institute book, Healthy Incentives: Canadian Health Reform in an International Context . Ms. Ramsay has written numerous articles that have contributed to the Canadian health care debate and she has spoken to groups in Canada and the United States on the necessity of market-based health care reform. From 1990-1992, Ms. Ramsay worked for Statistics Canada as an economic analyst. She received her BA (Honours) in economics from Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario, and her MA in economics from Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, BC.… Read more Read Less… -
Michael Walker
Fraser Institute Founder and Honorary DirectorMichael Walker was the executive director of the Fraser Institute from its inception in 1974 until September 2005. Before thathe taught at the University of Western Ontario and Carleton and was employed at the Bank of Canada and the Federal Department of Finance. He received his Ph.D. at the University of Western Ontario and his B.A. at St. Francis Xavier University. In 2016, he was appointed to the Order of Canada in recognition of his outstanding achievement, dedication to the community and service to the country.As an economist, he has authored or edited 45 books on economic topics. His articles on technical economic subjects have appeared in professional journals in Canada, the United States and Europe, including the Canadian Journal of Economics, the American Economic Review, the Journal of Finance, the Canadian Tax Journal, Health Management Quarterly, Weltwertschaftliches Archiv and Health Affairs. His primary concern as the founding Executive Director of the Fraser Institute has been to promote the examination and use of competitive markets as a method for enhancing the lives of Canadians.He is the co-founder, with Milton and Rose D. Friedman, of the Economic Freedom of the World project which is now a collaboration of institutes in 85 countries and produces the annual Economic Freedom of the World Index. The Index is one of the most widely cited such measures in the current academic literature.He is a director of a number of firms and other enterprises, including, Canaccord Capital, Mancal Corporation, The Milton and Rose D. Friedman Foundation, and the owner of the Prado Verde Estates and Falcon MHP. He is a director of The Pacific Academy for Advanced Studies which organizes the annual Alamos Alliance meetings of the Chicago Boys who have been instrumental in the economic reform process in Latin America and elsewhere.He has received the Vancouver Rotary Club Service above Self Award, the Colin M. Brown Freedom Medal and Award by the National Citizens' Coalition, an honorary Doctor of Laws degree (LL.D.) from The University of Western Ontario and The Thomas Jefferson Award from the Association of Private Enterprise Education.… Read more Read Less… -
Jared Alexander
Jared Alexander worked as a student intern at The Fraser Institute in the summer of 1997, where he collected muchof the data and assisted in the writing of this publication. Since then, he has been doing research and writing for projects in health-care policy at the Institute. He then went on to complete his Honours Bachelor's Degree in Economics at Simon Fraser University.… Read more Read Less…
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