People seeking treatment for eating disorders in Manitoba will now have more options and should experience significantly shorter wait times, after the Manitoba government announced it will spend $1.1 million to expand programs at Winnipeg’s Health Sciences Centre.
Some of that money will go toward creating a safe nutrition clinic that provides meal supports for people receiving care for eating disorders, Health Minister Cameron Friesen said at a news conference Wednesday morning.
Disorders like anorexia nervosa, bulimia and binge eating are the leading causes of death among all mental illnesses, Friesen said. It’s estimated between five and eight per cent of women in Canada will experience an eating disorder at some point in their lives. In Manitoba, that percentage represents about 100,000 women, he said.
“That’s a stunning thought. These are sad statistics, but we have to remember that behind these statistics … there are people,” Friesen said.
The new funding will add two in-patient beds for people being treated for eating disorders at the Health Sciences Centre, bringing the total number of beds available there to five, he said. It will also expand outpatient program capacity and improve programming for people dealing with both eating disorders and substance use issues.
Friesen said the funding will decrease wait times for treatment and keep people close to their support networks in Manitoba while they receive care.
Manitoba Health Minister Cameron Friesen says the funding announced Wednesday will make a number of changes, including the creation of a safe nutrition clinic that provides meal supports for people receiving care for eating disorders. (CBC)
For in-patient care, the wait is now expected to drop to one to two weeks — down from two to 10 weeks, the province said in a news release. The wait for outpatient care is now expected to be two to three weeks, instead of four to six months.
Money that used to be earmarked to send Manitobans out of province for treatment will now be spent within the province, the release said. In the first six months of 2019, Manitoba spent more than $500,000 to send five people out of the province for care, it said.
‘Lives will be saved,’ says advocate
The 2018 Virgo report on improving mental health and addictions services in Manitoba identified the need for more eating disorder resources in the province, Friesen noted.
He said the funding announced Wednesday is the latest effort by the province to better meet the needs of people struggling with mental illnesses.
Treating an eating disorder requires a dedicated, specialized team that is able to intervene early, said Dr. Louis Ludwig, medical director of the adult eating disorders program at the Health Sciences Centre.
On top of shortening wait times, the added in-patient beds and new nutrition clinic are expected to reduce the length of stay for some in-patients, said Ludwig. The bolstered outpatient programs, meanwhile, could eliminate the need for some patients to be admitted to hospital for treatment, he said.
Elaine Stevenson, whose daughter Alyssa died from anorexia in 2002 at the age of 24, said the new funding is a reminder that eating disorders are treatable and recovery is possible.
“For far too long, this illness has been cloaked in shame, secrecy, silence and stigma. Eating disorders are not a choice,” said Stevenson, who is also a co-founder of the Alyssa Stevenson Eating Disorder Memorial Trust.
“I believe that quality of life will be greatly improved [with this funding.] But more importantly, lives will be saved.”
VANCOUVER – Mayors and other leaders from several British Columbia communities say the provincial and federal governments need to take “immediate action” to tackle mental health and public safety issues that have reached crisis levels.
Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim says it’s become “abundantly clear” that mental health and addiction issues and public safety have caused crises that are “gripping” Vancouver, and he and other politicians, First Nations leaders and law enforcement officials are pleading for federal and provincial help.
In a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier David Eby, mayors say there are “three critical fronts” that require action including “mandatory care” for people with severe mental health and addiction issues.
The letter says senior governments also need to bring in “meaningful bail reform” for repeat offenders, and the federal government must improve policing at Metro Vancouver ports to stop illicit drugs from coming in and stolen vehicles from being exported.
Sim says the “current system” has failed British Columbians, and the number of people dealing with severe mental health and addiction issues due to lack of proper care has “reached a critical point.”
Vancouver Police Chief Adam Palmer says repeat violent offenders are too often released on bail due to a “revolving door of justice,” and a new approach is needed to deal with mentally ill people who “pose a serious and immediate danger to themselves and others.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024
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.
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.
