Medicine ‘belongs to the world,’ say pharmacare advocates
This week’s edition of who is saying what about public health care is compiled by Pat Van Horne.
Dr. Frederick Banting wasn’t in it for the money
“On the 100th anniversary of (Dr. Frederick Banting’s) Nobel Prize for co-discovering insulin, we long for the bygone era that he belonged to — an era before the rise of Big Pharma, before the triumph of patent rights over patients’ needs, and before the crass commercialization of life-saving medicines like insulin became the norm… The reality of a patient struggling to keep up with crushing health care bills — a struggle that many Canadians share — is a stark contrast to the principles that Banting, stood for a century ago. As a physician bound by the Hippocratic oath, he felt it was wrong to profit from life-saving medication that others needed just to survive, famously declaring… Insulin does not belong to me, it belongs to the world,” wrote Rebecca Redmond, patient advocate, and Nikolas Barry-Shaw, pharmacare campaigner, Council of Canadians, in the Toronto Star, October 25, 2023
Make pharmacare a reality
“Let’s recover (Dr. Frederick Banting’s) lost message and champion its cause to bring about the greatest good for the greatest number… Make public pharmacare a reality,” said letter-writer Tony D’Andrea in the Toronto Star, October 28, 2023
Saskatchewan nurses call for task force
“We heard from rural, we heard from the emergency room, we heard from the children’s hospital. It’s a dangerous situation out there. . . The system is broken, but it’s not repairable and registered nurses have the answer. We’ve had the answers all along, we just need to be listened to,” said Tracey Zambory, president of the Saskatchewan Union of Nurses (SUN), to CTV News, October 26, 2023
Long-term care should be public, not for private profit says PEI union president
“The obvious solution is… get rid of the private sector, put it back into the public sector where it belongs. Long-term care is health care, so in our view there’s no reason for it to be provided by private operators at all. . . Why waste time, energy and resources in improving the private sector so that people can profit off health care?” said Ashley Clark, PEI president, Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), to CBC News, October 26, 2023
Health care workers in Quebec ready to strike if necessary
“Gone are the days when we could impose conditions on health-care professionals that other workers . . . would refuse. We want to be paid our fair value, commensurate with our expertise,” said Julie Bouchard, Fédération interprofessionnelle de la santé (FIQ), to CBC News, October 26, 2023
Jane Philpott exposes Canadian health care to Harvard audience
“We don’t have the kind of accountability built into our systems in ways that we see in European countries . . . Everyone (in Canada) has access to health insurance for what’s deemed ‘medically necessary care,’ which sounds really fabulous until you get into the underneath of that and realize that, actually, the definition of medically necessary care is pretty narrow,” said former federal Health Minister Jane Philpott to the Harvard School of Public Health, as reported in The Harvard Crimson, October 30, 2023
Time for new NDP government to change the channel on hospital ERs
“Despite claims of ‘record investments’ in health care by the previous Progressive Conservative government in its final year in office, wait times last month at Winnipeg ERs and urgent care centres were the highest on record. The main reason: not a single hospital bed was added to Winnipeg Regional Health Authority facilities over the past year,” wrote columnist Tom Broadbeck in the Winnipeg Free Press, October 26, 2023
Rebuild public health care now, and include Indigenous health
“In the face of incredible adversity, there are some pockets of health-care worker retention. Jason Klainchar leads the Churchill Health Centre in Manitoba with 100 per cent of nursing positions filled—since 2020. This is miraculous in this era. Subsidized housing for staff is a clear factor, but exemplary leadership is foundational. One has to be exceptional to lead in health because the health sector resists change incredibly well. . . As health care attempts to build back, please do it in partnership with Indigenous health. Don’t leave Indigenous health behind yet again. That would be a colossal once-in-a-generation failure. Canadian healthcare leaders have a role to play right now in reconciliation—don’t leave out Indigenous health,” stated Rose LeMay, Tlingit from the West Coast and the CEO of Indigenous Reconciliation Group, in the Hill Times, October 30, 2023
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