Moving stem cell breakthroughs from the lab to the bedside
Chances are, you know someone who has benefitted from a stem cell treatment. Every day in North America, more than 1,000 people receive such therapies, most often to treat burns, ulcers, or other skin ailments, but also to treat a range of devastating blood disorders such as leukemia or multiple myeloma. With hundreds of […]
Time for another look at social factors that affect our health
SASKATOON, SASK.—Health care is only one element of what can make a significant difference in health outcomes, with social factors, such as education or affordable housing or a safe working environment, playing a much more significant role in determining whether we will be healthy or ill. This has been understood for centuries, and in […]
What doctor shortage?
VANCOUVER, B.C.—Earlier this year, the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development released the results of a survey of average waiting times for medical care in 25 countries. This was not a shining moment for Canada. The waits for most medical services are far longer here than in most of the comparator countries. […]
Success of digital health depends on all Canadians
OTTAWA—After more than a decade of hard work and collaboration, digital health is making treatment safer, more efficient, and, ultimately, better for Canadians. Consider the following: Use of electronic medical records (EMR) in community-based practices in Canada has yielded efficiency and patient care benefits valued at $1.3-billion since 2006. Drug information systems reduce […]
Why we need a national Lyme disease strategy
I know a health policy briefing should touch on all areas of health policy. We have critical issues ahead as we work to protect universal access to top-notch health care, reduce wait-times and drug costs, and meet the growing challenges of an aging population. The deficits in our mental health programs alone could occupy the […]
Federal will, leadership determinants of health
The 2004 Health Accord signed by prime minister Paul Martin and all premiers was not, as some have commented: “just throwing money at the problem.” During the Mulroney era and the consequent inherited deficit of the early 1990s, health-care transfers had suffered. Consequently, the ability of provinces to undertake some of the necessary transformative […]
Time to fix the Tory government’s failures on health care
I would first like to begin by welcoming new Health Minister Rona Ambrose to her new role on the health file. I hope the minister is keen to get to work on the many challenges facing our public health-care system, as I certainly am. Canadians can’t wait for access to high quality health care—the time […]
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure
It has been an honour to serve as the chair of the Standing Committee on Health over the past six years. During this time, I have had the privilege of hearing testimony from dedicated health-care professionals, health researchers, and scientists, and numerous Canadians who are suffering from an illness or disease or have an […]
Innovation key to building a sustainable, efficient health-care system in Canada
There’s nothing more important than having good health. As Canadians we value our health and health-care system and we expected it to be there for us when we need it. Our government remains committed to a strong, publicly-funded system guided by the Canada Health Act. Federal health transfers are the highest in Canadian history […]
Health advocates say feds MIA on social determinants of health
Community health centre advocates want the federal government to show leadership through targeted funding aimed at addressing the social determinants of health. “We’ve got 300,000 kids living in poverty in this country, we’ve got a lot of people living in homelessness. We’ve got to start addressing those issues,” CMA president Dr. Louis Francescutti told […]
