“When we win together in 2019 we will embrace innovation in health care and invest in key areas that have been ignored for far too long,” she said. 

• A Canadian Autism Partnership working with provinces to address key issues such as information sharing and research, early detection, diagnosis and treatment, while supporting families living with Autism.

• A National Dementia Strategy based on the recommendations of the Senate’s Dementia/Alzheimer’s report from last fall supported with steady, reliable federal funding.

• Tackling the Challenge of Rare Diseases by investing in early diagnosis, access to treatment and research for those suffering from rare disorders – an astonishing one in 12 Canadians impacting three million families.

• Driving Efficiency and Innovation – The Government of Canada cannot write blank cheques or continue to deliver health care funding as it has in the past. We will be relentlessly focused on every opportunity to innovate and find efficiencies that allow for re-investment in key priorities. 

Early detection is the key. Ms. Raitt’s plan will provide enhanced training to all medical professionals and childcare workers to recognize the potential signs of Autism and what steps they should take. 

“We will provide direct support to all families of children with autism, recognizing the unique financial burdens they are forced to bear,” she said. “By making prescribed health care costs related to the treatment and management of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) tax deductible we can make a meaningful impact in the lives of Canadians and ensure children receive the care they need.”

Dementia currently affects close to one million Canadians, robbing them of their quality of life and stretching our social, health and housing resources. Decisive action by the federal government is urgently needed as the proportion of seniors will continue to grow over the coming decades. 

“Now is the time for Canada to implement a National Dementia Strategy based on the recommendations from the Senate’s Dementia/Alzheimer’s report from last fall.”

Most patients with rare disorders face a struggle for the proper diagnosis and treatment that could save or significantly improve lives. 

“Opportunities exist to provide information sooner for clinicians and caregivers to manage patients more efficiently.” Ms. Raitt said. “People are waiting. Let’s get to work.”

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Canada needs to move to a national approach on Drug Coverage, a single plan administered by one body to consolidate buying power and provide common coverage to all Canadians.  

This common sense coverage approach would also move quickly to allow biosimilars* to be used across Canada. This would remove barriers to get biosimilars into the Canadians market and create a system where they are used more widely because biosimilar drugs can realize 10 to 70 per cent in savings to taxpayers while maintaining patient care.

The Federal government must do more to both facilitate transformation and to work directly with provinces and territories scaling up and spreading health care delivery models that show promise and deliver superior outcomes.  Elements to this strategy include:

Providing an additional $1 billion per year over five years to support innovation, research and the scaling up and spreading of proven ideas across the country. 

Today there are eight major federally-funded agencies operating nationally in Canada’s health system and funded by Ottawa. These agencies have overlapping mandates, competing interests and redundant bureaucracies. Collectively, these agencies cost the taxpayer almost $270 million annually and employ 1300 people.

The eight agencies are the Canadian Institute for Health Information, Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health, Canada Health Infoway, Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement, Canadian Patient Safety Institute, Canadian Centre for Substance Abuse, Canadian Partnership against Cancer and the Mental Health Commission of Canada. In addition, the federal government gives more than $1 billion annually to the Canadian Institute for Health Research.

All Canadians, and our provincial health delivery systems, would benefit from a streamlining of these organizations to reduce duplication and optimize expenditures.

A new consolidated entity should be established with a view to rolling up seven of these agencies into one Research and Transformation Agency, along with the stand alone Mental Health Commission. This new entity will be charged with stimulating and advancing health innovation in Canada by seeding and scaling promising health delivery models that better serve our patients ensuring Canada becomes a leader in health research.

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