STRATCOM Health Care in Canada

The following is a review of developments affecting health care in Canada

The information is updated the first week of every month - so ... make this a regular stop in your information gathering activities.

The following information has been compiled from publicly available sources, StratCom does not assume any responsibility for the accuracy or the authenticity of the information and StratCom cannot be held liable for errors.

Healthcare in Canada - January 2003

Hema-Quebec and oncologist Martin Champagne of the Ste-Justine Hospital will start Canada's second cord blood bank from donated umbilical cords in September 2003. The bank should allow the hospital to stop purchasing blood containing bone marrow on the global market. Each unit costs about $25,000 US. Hema-Quebec will be responsible for ensuring the safety of each unit of blood. The blood will be frozen to maintain its usefulness for at least 15 years. The blood from umbilical cords is particularly rich in blood stem cells, which can be used to replace the damaged blood cells of children, who don't benefit from conventional treatments. New York established the world's first umbilical blood bank in 1992. Until now Edmonton was the home of Canada's only cord blood bank.

New Brunswick's recently tabled budget for 2003/04 has allowed for an increase in health-care funding by $78.4 million over last year, putting total expenditures for 2003/04 at an all-time high of $1.88 billion. That represents a 4.4% increase over 2002/03. Highlights of the 2003/04 budget include $843.1 million for hospital services, $388.8 million for long-term care and nursing home services, $327.3 million for medicare and $114.5 million for the province's Prescription Drug Program. Specific projects covered will include the upgrading of medical equipment, improvements to health institutions and the establishment of community health centres. The first four centres are expected to open by June 2003. Designed to provide primary care in under serviced areas, they will be staffed by multidisciplinary teams of health-care professionals, including physicians and nurse practitioners.

Following recent reports of the transmission of West Nile virus in blood transfusions, the Canadian Blood Services (CBS) has asked Canadian hospitals to quarantine frozen blood products that were collected in Ontario from June through October 2002 to reduce the risk of transmitting West Nile virus (WNV) by transfusion. The withdrawal applies to fresh frozen plasma, cryoprecipitate and cryosupernatant, but only for products from Ontario because it was the only province to have human cases of WNV.

The following is a review of developments affecting health care in Canada

Healthcare in Canada - January 2003

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Send mail to stratcom@pagebleu.com with questions or comments about this web site.
Concept and Design Blue Page Productions
Copyright © 1996-2003 STRATCOM
Last modified: February 2, 2003