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The following is a review of developments affecting health care in CanadaThe 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 - May 2000
Hospitals and private laboratories in Hamilton, Ontario have developed a partnership with McMaster University and Canadian Blood Services to create a new transfusion medicine institute. The institute will promote transfusion medicine research and education and operate a centralized testing laboratory that provides "integrated vein-to-vein" transfusion services. Once established the institute anticipates extending its services to west-central Ontario and ultimately all of Canada. Canadian deputy health minister Dave Dodge has announced that Health Canada's Health Protection and Health Promotion & Programs branches are being realigned into three new branches. Health Products & Food, in addition to being responsible for the safety and efficacy of pharmaceuticals, natural health products, medical devices, food, biologics and related biotechnologies, will oversee nutrition promotion. Environmental & Product Safety is responsible for the safety and efficacy of commercial and consumer products and promotion of healthy living, working and recreational environments. Population & Public Health is responsible for disease surveillance and health interventions. The reorganization is scheduled to begin July 1. The 1999 and 2000 federal budgets added a combined $340 million to the department's health protection program in disciplines such as food safety and environmental health, and a further $90 million for health promotion. More information is available at http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/english. Insurance companies claim that they do not routinely ask potential policy holders to submit to genetic testing, however Canadian laws do not prohibit insurance firms use genetic testing or asking to have access to an applicant's complete medical record. January 2001 Bill C6 the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, passed April 2000 goes into effect. The Ontario government has begun a campaign to transfer as many as 80% of the province's eligible family doctors from fee-for-service to alternative payment mechanisms over the next four years. The 1999/2000 provincial budget sets aside $250 million for GPs and $75 million to tempt doctors in academic health science centres to adopt alternative payment plans. The Ontario Physicians' Alliance has its opposition to the program citing that it will not solve the problem of long waiting lists and dwindling physician services. A Regional Protein Chemistry Centre has been opened at the Loeb Health Research Institute at The Ottawa Hospital. The Centre will provide expertise as well as unique and specialized equipment for protein chemistry research into ways to combat diseases of aging such as Alzheimer's, atherosclerosis, obesity, diabetes, cancer and viral diseases such as AIDS. The Loeb is also involved in research programs in DNA vaccine for Hepatitis B; in neurosciences for Parkinson's disease and neurotrauma; and in hormones, growth and development. The Centre is funded by the Ontario Research and Development Challenge Fund, the Canada Foundation for Innovation, the Ontario Innovation Trust, the Region of Ottawa-Carleton, the Ottawa Hospital - Civic Auxiliary, the Ottawa Hospital, the University of Ottawa, the Civic Foundation and from its corporate partner Glaxo Wellcome.
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