Health

Launch national pharmacare with free birth control, NDP pitches

Published

2 years ago

May 4, 2022

OTTAWA — If the government wants to solidify reproductive rights in Canada, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh suggests it start by launching pharmacare with a full slate of birth control options.

Reproductive health has been in the spotlight since a leaked U.S. Supreme Court draft opinion revealed national abortion rights could be rescinded in that country.

Singh said access to abortion is a “huge concern” in Canada, and he wants to see more clinics and hospitals offering the service closer to people’s homes. But more immediately, he said the government can make sure people can at least afford contraceptives through its proposed national pharmacare plan.

“We know that the cost of contraceptives are prohibitive for a lot of people,” Singh said at a news conference Wednesday. “It costs too much if you don’t have a drug plan.”

As part of the Liberals’ confidence and supply agreement with the NDP, the federal government has until June 2025 to develop a list of essential medicines that would be covered under a national pharmacare plan.

Singh said he’s been clear with the government that the list should include contraceptives.

Canada is one of the only countries with universal health care that does not also have universal access to contraception for women, according to the authors of a 2019 University of British Columbia study on the affordability of birth control.

Canada has a patchwork of public and private insurance plans, and the cost of contraceptives can vary wildly from a few dollars to hundreds of dollars per year depending on the type of birth control and a person’s coverage.

Australians, by contrast, have their pick of birth control methods for about C$6.

The researchers at UBC found young women at risk of an unwanted pregnancy were more likely to rely on cheaper, less effective forms of birth control if they had lower household incomes. Having less money also put them at greater risk of forgoing birth control altogether.

The most effective types of birth control, like an intrauterine device, tend to come at the highest upfront cost, said lead author on the study, Elizabeth Nethery.

“If you can’t cover that yourself and can’t come up with that money … you may choose to use condoms,” she said.

The Canadian Paediatric Society also called for universal access to birth control for youth under the age of 25 as part of a 2019 position paper. The society pointed out there are even greater barriers when young people try to access prescribed birth control without their parents’ knowledge when covered by private insurance.

Ontario adopted the policy in 2018 as part of its youth pharmacare plan, and the provincial NDP have pledged to expand contraception coverage to people of all ages as part of the party’s current election campaign.

Leaving birth control out of a national pharmacare plan would cause “serious problems” for the Liberal-NDP deal, Singh said.

The World Health Organization’s model list of essential medicines, which serves as a guide to member nations, includes birth control pills and injectable hormonal contraceptives, as well as birth control devices like condoms, diaphragms, the vaginal ring, implantable contraceptives and intrauterine devices.

“It should be as broad as possible and if it doesn’t include contraceptives, that’s not appropriate. It is a an essential medication for women and it should be included in the formulary,” Singh said.

Nethery said she’d be shocked to see contraceptives left off the list of medications the government plans to cover once it eventually launches a pharmacare scheme.

That doesn’t mean women will be able scratch birth control off their monthly budgets any time soon.

The Liberals’ deal with the NDP doesn’t include a specific timeline for when Canadians would actually benefit from a pharmacare program, and the formulary isn’t due until the deal is up — when the NDP are likely to have far less leverage with the government.

Singh also agreed to a phased-in approach to pharmacare that might see a smaller list of essential medicines covered first.

“We believe that the list has to be as broad as possible. And then, in terms of the rollout, we can start with some critical medication first and then move onward,” he said.

Singh suggests starting with birth control and then moving on to things like heart, diabetes or cancer medications.

Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos did not respond directly to questions about whether the government expects to see a full spectrum of birth control options included in the pharmacare formulary, or whether contraceptives would be prioritized during the eventual rollout of the program.

In a statement, his office said the government will always work to improve access to reproductive health. The statement points to the department’s 2019 decision to expand access to the abortion pill Mifegymiso by making it available without an ultrasound.

“We stand ready to work with any party willing to advance this issue,” the statement said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 4, 2022.

Laura Osman, The Canadian Press

Health

Canada to donate up to 200,000 vaccine doses to combat mpox outbreaks in Africa

Published

14 hours ago

September 13, 2024

Anne Joseph

The Canadian government says it will donate up to 200,000 vaccine doses to fight the mpox outbreak in Congo and other African countries.

It says the donated doses of Imvamune will come from Canada’s existing supply and will not affect the country’s preparedness for mpox cases in this country.

Minister of Health Mark Holland says the donation “will help to protect those in the most affected regions of Africa and will help prevent further spread of the virus.”

Dr. Madhukar Pai, Canada research chair in epidemiology and global health, says although the donation is welcome, it is a very small portion of the estimated 10 million vaccine doses needed to control the outbreak.

Vaccine donations from wealthier countries have only recently started arriving in Africa, almost a month after the World Health Organization declared the mpox outbreak a public health emergency of international concern.

A few days after the declaration in August, Global Affairs Canada announced a contribution of $1 million for mpox surveillance, diagnostic tools, research and community awareness in Africa.

On Thursday, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said mpox is still on the rise and that testing rates are “insufficient” across the continent.

Jason Kindrachuk, Canada research chair in emerging viruses at the University of Manitoba, said donating vaccines, in addition to supporting surveillance and diagnostic tests, is “massively important.”

But Kindrachuk, who has worked on the ground in Congo during the epidemic, also said that the international response to the mpox outbreak is “better late than never (but) better never late.”

“It would have been fantastic for us globally to not be in this position by having provided doses a much, much longer time prior than when we are,” he said, noting that the outbreak of clade I mpox in Congo started in early 2023.

Clade II mpox, endemic in regions of West Africa, came to the world’s attention even earlier — in 2022 — as that strain of virus spread to other countries, including Canada.

Two doses are recommended for mpox vaccination, so the donation may only benefit 100,000 people, Pai said.

Pai questioned whether Canada is contributing enough, as the federal government hasn’t said what percentage of its mpox vaccine stockpile it is donating.

“Small donations are simply not going to help end this crisis. We need to show greater solidarity and support,” he said in an email.

“That is the biggest lesson from the COVID-19 pandemic — our collective safety is tied with that of other nations.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.

Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.

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Health

How many Nova Scotians are on the doctor wait-list? Number hit 160,000 in June

Published

2 days ago

September 11, 2024

Anne Joseph

HALIFAX – The Nova Scotia government says it could be months before it reveals how many people are on the wait-list for a family doctor.

The head of the province’s health authority told reporters Wednesday that the government won’t release updated data until the 160,000 people who were on the wait-list in June are contacted to verify whether they still need primary care.

Karen Oldfield said Nova Scotia Health is working on validating the primary care wait-list data before posting new numbers, and that work may take a matter of months. The most recent public wait-list figures are from June 1, when 160,234 people, or about 16 per cent of the population, were on it.

“It’s going to take time to make 160,000 calls,” Oldfield said. “We are not talking weeks, we are talking months.”

The interim CEO and president of Nova Scotia Health said people on the list are being asked where they live, whether they still need a family doctor, and to give an update on their health.

A spokesperson with the province’s Health Department says the government and its health authority are “working hard” to turn the wait-list registry into a useful tool, adding that the data will be shared once it is validated.

Nova Scotia’s NDP are calling on Premier Tim Houston to immediately release statistics on how many people are looking for a family doctor. On Tuesday, the NDP introduced a bill that would require the health minister to make the number public every month.

“It is unacceptable for the list to be more than three months out of date,” NDP Leader Claudia Chender said Tuesday.

Chender said releasing this data regularly is vital so Nova Scotians can track the government’s progress on its main 2021 campaign promise: fixing health care.

The number of people in need of a family doctor has more than doubled between the 2021 summer election campaign and June 2024. Since September 2021 about 300 doctors have been added to the provincial health system, the Health Department said.

“We’ll know if Tim Houston is keeping his 2021 election promise to fix health care when Nova Scotians are attached to primary care,” Chender said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.

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Health

Newfoundland and Labrador monitoring rise in whooping cough cases: medical officer

Published

3 days ago

September 10, 2024

Anne Joseph

ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – Newfoundland and Labrador‘s chief medical officer is monitoring the rise of whooping cough infections across the province as cases of the highly contagious disease continue to grow across Canada.

Dr. Janice Fitzgerald says that so far this year, the province has recorded 230 confirmed cases of the vaccine-preventable respiratory tract infection, also known as pertussis.

Late last month, Quebec reported more than 11,000 cases during the same time period, while Ontario counted 470 cases, well above the five-year average of 98. In Quebec, the majority of patients are between the ages of 10 and 14.

Meanwhile, New Brunswick has declared a whooping cough outbreak across the province. A total of 141 cases were reported by last month, exceeding the five-year average of 34.

The disease can lead to severe complications among vulnerable populations including infants, who are at the highest risk of suffering from complications like pneumonia and seizures. Symptoms may start with a runny nose, mild fever and cough, then progress to severe coughing accompanied by a distinctive “whooping” sound during inhalation.

“The public, especially pregnant people and those in close contact with infants, are encouraged to be aware of symptoms related to pertussis and to ensure vaccinations are up to date,” Newfoundland and Labrador’s Health Department said in a statement.

Whooping cough can be treated with antibiotics, but vaccination is the most effective way to control the spread of the disease. As a result, the province has expanded immunization efforts this school year. While booster doses are already offered in Grade 9, the vaccine is now being offered to Grade 8 students as well.

Public health officials say whooping cough is a cyclical disease that increases every two to five or six years.

Meanwhile, New Brunswick’s acting chief medical officer of health expects the current case count to get worse before tapering off.

A rise in whooping cough cases has also been reported in the United States and elsewhere. The Pan American Health Organization issued an alert in July encouraging countries to ramp up their surveillance and vaccination coverage.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 10, 2024.

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