Global Fund calls on feds to increase funding by ‘at least’ 15 per cent, as development observers criticize Liberal foreign assistance
A multinational humanitarian organization is looking for the Canadian government to increase its funding by 15 per cent to fight global epidemics of AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria, at the same as the Liberal government’s foreign assistance funding is being questioned. The Global Fund is seeking $14-billion from its donor countries in October to cover the […]
A few questions for Canada’s Health Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor
How is the strategy for patient-oriented research Canadian data platform going to shake up the healthcare research landscape? How do you think it will change the opioids crisis response, for example? “For the first time in Canada, we will have a single platform that allows health researchers to get access to data from various researchers, […]
Ending TB among Canada’s Indigenous peoples: treat the fundamental causes, not just the disease
Last year, the federal government announced it would spend $27.5-million over five years on an ambitious plan to end tuberculosis (TB) across Inuit Nunangat, Inuit regions of Canada, by 2030. The plan’s specific objective was to reduce rates of TB to levels lower than are seen currently in the rest of Canada. This is an […]
Report, like northern infrastructure, does not go far enough
A House of Commons committee report intended to take a comprehensive look at northern infrastructure needs was released last week. The House Standing Committee on Indigenous and Northern Affairs report comes at a critical time; the government’s new Arctic Policy Framework is set to be released in the coming weeks. The future of northern infrastructure, […]
Closing the mental health gap: expanding coverage as next step toward mental health parity
For decades, governments have seriously underfunded mental health, falling far short of the ideal of parity of mental health with physical health. With its 10-year $5-billion mental health transfer, the federal government should be congratulated for taking a significant bite out of the mental-health funding gap. The additional $500-million per year it will provide makes […]
What if we measured government success by health outcomes?
In Canada, a small proportion of adults disproportionately interact with our health care, criminal justice, and social welfare systems. The symptom? Poverty. Children in poverty live in more crowded, noisier, and lower-quality housing. They have fewer social supports and poorer family dynamics. Their neighbourhoods have more polluted air and water quality, more crime, and are […]
New breast cancer screening guidelines put women at risk
Breast cancer is the second leading cause of death from cancer in Canadian women. On any given day, 72 Canadian women are diagnosed with breast cancer and 14 Canadian women will die from it. Over the course of a lifetime, one in eight Canadian women will develop breast cancer and one in 31 will lose […]
Mental health: doing more of the same isn’t good enough
With the approach of Mental Health Week (May 6 to 12) and the 13th anniversary of the Senate of Canada report Out of the Shadows at Last, this is a good time to reflect on what has been achieved and what still needs to be addressed in the area of mental health. While much has […]
Budget misses the mark on addressing health needs
The Liberals’ budget delivered their “solutions” to the issues facing health care in Canada today. But did it hit its intended mark? Canada is facing a systemic health crisis. Canadians are living longer—a good thing, on its own—but increasingly with chronic diseases such as diabetes or dementia. This places a genuine burden on Canadian caregivers, […]
Canada’s Arctic needs investments in infrastructure, health, economic development, education
What if someone came into your home, took away your food, your livelihood, your kids, your land, lied to you, told you to move, abused you, assigned you a racially based identification number and commanded you to wear it at all times, eliminated your only means of transportation and hunting for food for your family […]
