Archive for the ‘Health Policy Context’ Category
Why Ontario’s measles outbreak highlights our need for a vaccine registry
Thursday, February 12th, 2026
Ontario’s measles outbreak has laid bare how vulnerable we are without the essential tools needed to know who is protected and who is not…The solution is clear — and it’s not a crumpled yellow vaccine card. Ontarians need… a comprehensive immunization registry… a secure, province-wide system that’s accessible from family doctors’ offices to ERs across the province.
Tags: Health, jurisdiction, participation, pharmaceutical, standard of living, youth
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Feds revive bill to build digitally connected health data systems for patients, providers
Thursday, February 5th, 2026
Canada’s health data system is “fragmented and siloed” and incomplete health records can compromise patient care and safety… If passed, the legislation would establish standards that companies developing electronic medical records must follow, allowing data to be shareable between health-care providers and across provinces and territories… “Canada’s diversity and single-payer model has created one of the most valuable health data sets on Earth,”
Tags: Health, jurisdiction, mental Health, pharmaceutical
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Why drug approval in Canada should not rely on foreign regulators
Friday, January 30th, 2026
So far, there is no evidence to back up the claim that using decisions made by foreign drug regulators will lead to faster access to newer and better drugs. Before Canada proceeds down this pathway, Health Canada needs to show that it will improve public health.
Tags: Health, jurisdiction, pharmaceutical
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We’re already facing the consequences of two-tier health care. Doug Ford is opening the door to make it even worse
Tuesday, January 20th, 2026
… the door is now wide open to a major expansion of for-profit health care thanks to Ontario’s Bill 60. The bill contains no obvious limits on outsourcing publicly funded health services to the private sector… While reducing wait times is a goal we all share, funding private, for-profit expansion while publicly funded operating rooms sit underused and nurses remain unavailable is not the solution.
Tags: budget, Health, ideology, jurisdiction, privatization, standard of living
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Ontario judge grants international medical school grads a temporary lifeline
Thursday, December 4th, 2025
An Ontario judge has given a temporary lifeline to international medical school graduates who would have been excluded from qualifying for the first round of matching for medical school residency placements under the province’s controversial new rule… More than 92 per cent of the spots are filled in the first iteration of the matching…
Tags: Health, immigration, jurisdiction, rights
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Mark Carney says he’ll make pharmacare deals with provinces, but won’t commit to expanding their coverage
Friday, September 12th, 2025
… “Ottawa has been dealing with a spate of new priorities since the beginning of the year, and [Dr. Eric Hoskins] understands why Carney is taking an “incremental” approach… the last thing anyone would have wanted is to create an even more patchwork program of diabetic medications and contraception, where you’ve got a handful of provinces and territories that have it, and others that don’t.”
Tags: budget, Health, jurisdiction, pharmaceutical, women
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Public health care is a vital domestic industry and it’s beyond Trump’s reach. Strengthening it should be a priority
Thursday, August 7th, 2025
… the broader health-care sector is Canada’s biggest single industry — employing three million Canadians, adding $200 billion a year to our GDP… business and conservative commentators promote the fallacy that only industries producing exportable goods — like oil, mining and auto manufacturing — actually create wealth. The business crowd tends to portray our public health care and education systems as little more than costly drains on our public resources. Nothing could be farther from the truth.
Tags: economy, Health, ideology, privatization
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Five examples of how hubris in public health could lead to repeated mistakes
Thursday, July 3rd, 2025
Here are five examples: … The pandemic isn’t over when hospitalizations have temporarily slowed… Long COVID’s effects have been downplayed despite life-altering and long-lasting health effects… Ignoring uncomfortable truths is not a public health strategy… Public health should never be weaponized by political agendas… A transparent, national inquiry is essential to maintaining trust in public health.
Tags: Health, ideology, jurisdiction
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Ontario government aims to fast-track cancer drugs in new pilot project
Sunday, May 18th, 2025
During the election, Prime Minister Mark Carney pledged that, if elected, his government would “significantly reduce wait times for life-saving medications… Canadian patients wait too long for public access to medicines following Health Canada approval, putting us behind other G7 countries” and promised to cut red tape without compromising safety. The Ontario pilot will include “select high priority cancer drugs” that are approved and part of Project Orbis, an international effort to co-ordinate efforts between countries to get medications approved and fast-tracked out to patients.
Tags: Health
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Does the Canada Health Act require reinterpretation, or a more fundamental rethink?
Thursday, January 16th, 2025
The Canada Health Act clearly states that “physician services” and “hospital services” are covered by medicare. There is nothing about “physician-equivalent services.” … But, if some of the work of NPs, pharmacists and midwives is to be considered essential, what about psychologists, physiotherapists and other allied health professionals? And while we’re at it: Should everything doctors do be considered medically necessary and covered by medicare?
Tags: Health, ideology, jurisdiction, privatization
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