Archive for the ‘Health’ Category

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Pharmaceutical industry offers Ottawa $1-billion to scrap pending drug pricing rules, documents show

Monday, November 16th, 2020

The pharmaceutical industry has made a last-ditch $1-billion proposal to the Canadian government in hopes of fending off parts of a drug pricing crackdown set to go into effect on Jan. 1… to boost local manufacturing and commercialization, and on new programs to improve access to drugs for rare diseases… “The position of the Government of Canada remains unchanged – Canada has among the highest patented medicine prices in the world, and these high prices negatively affect the ability of patients to access new medicines”

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CMHA Ontario calls for ‘critical infrastructure’ investments in fall 2020 pre-budget submission

Saturday, October 31st, 2020

… eight core areas of need for the mental health and addictions sector: sustainable and long-term funding support… compensate staff appropriately… safer (overdose) supply programs… additional 30,000 supportive housing units over the next 10 years… a data strategy for the entire community-based mental health and addictions sector… Primary care and mental health and addictions integration… Expansion of mobile crisis response teams… A core set of provincewide mental health and addictions services

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Pandemic’s impact on mental health must not be overlooked

Wednesday, October 14th, 2020

Resources are online at www.crisisservicescanada.ca or you can connect to the national suicide prevention helpline at 1-833-456-4566, or the Kids Help Phone at 1-800-668-6868… to nurture your mental well-being: learn, since new knowledge can give a sense of achievement; connect through meaningful interactions that can promote self-worth; take notice of the present to shift focus away from the negative; give back since contributing can provide a sense of purpose; be active; and build a routine.

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Medicare 2.0: Fixing Holes in our healthcare system that hurt Canadians

Sunday, October 11th, 2020

Each wave of the pandemic reignites concerns about the state of long-term care homes and renews existing calls to improve our healthcare system… This research paper urges the government to expand public health care and outlines why it is critical to do so now, during COVID-19, calling for establishing comprehensive mental health services, making long-term care part of medicare, and implementing universal pharmacare now.

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Ontario should make pay hikes for personal support workers permanent

Monday, October 5th, 2020

The pay increase for PSWs announced last week is long overdue but, now that it’s here, let’s at least make it permanent… the premier has repeatedly admitted that these workers are “overworked”… That would mean setting — and funding — daily care standards so the important work of caring for our vulnerable seniors can be done well and safely for everyone. The pandemic has shown us all how essential much low-paid, undervalued work really is.

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Should we spend more on health? Only if we get better care 

Tuesday, September 22nd, 2020

… what the premiers are proposing is that the feds absorb some of their current spending. They want Ottawa to transfer money rather than use their own powers of taxation to increase revenues… This pandemic, more than anything, has exposed the shortcomings in health and welfare systems, particularly in caring for elders and other marginalized groups. That’s what we need to fix. The last thing we need is buck-passing.

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What is it that Doug Ford doesn’t understand about pharmacare?

Sunday, September 20th, 2020

The premiers keep complaining about rising health-care costs, so why not embrace the one big idea that could control costs dramatically? COVID-19 is a time of crisis, but it also confers an economic opportunity for health care… Money need not be an obstacle, because a well-designed plan will pay dividends — not just in lower drug costs but in better health outcomes.

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Long-term care operators call on Ontario government to address severe staffing shortage

Sunday, September 20th, 2020

Doris Grinspun, chief executive officer of the Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario, is so frustrated with the government’s lack of action, she announced on July 31 that she will not reopen the VIANurse program if the province is hit with a second wave of the virus… “Nursing home residents deserve permanent solutions… We are done with Band-Aid solutions.” … The B.C. government unveiled a new program last week that will train up to 7,000 people to work as health care aides in long-term care homes. The government will pay the tuition costs.

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B.C. moves to dramatically increase access to safe alternatives to illicit drugs

Thursday, September 17th, 2020

… the province significantly expands access to a “safer supply” to combat record overdose deaths caused by toxic street drugs…. the changes are the first step in undoing decades of harm caused by bad drug policy, and show that policy makers are listening to people on the ground. “Now the work begins on what drugs are available, what drugs we can access… we cannot continue to give drug users the least-sought-after drugs and expect them not to access the contaminated supply.”

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Greed fuels fight for private health care

Thursday, September 17th, 2020

Justice John Steeves ruled that Day failed to show patients rights were being violated because of long wait times, noting the law was based on equitable access to care, not on a patient’s ability to pay… If the judge had ruled in Day’s favour, it would have been a nail in the coffin for public medicare… by opening the door for insurance companies and financial institutions to make a ton of money — the very people who will financially support Day and others fighting for private health care.

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