- Just days into the election campaign, Paul Martin and his team unveiled a health-care platform called 'A Fix for a Generation'
- It calls for an additional $3 billion in general health-care funding over two years, designed to close the so-called "Romanow Gap"
- An additional $4-billion will be spent over the next five years on a "National Waiting Times Reduction Strategy." The plan has two parts;
- The first would see provincial/territorial governments make waiting times date public and consult with medical experts to define reasonable and medically appropriate wait times
- The second part of that plan is a "Five in Five" strategy that will look at five key types of care where pressures are greatest -- cancer, heart, diagnostic imaging, joint replacements and sight restoration. Targets for reducing waiting times for each type of care will be set by the end of 2005, and met by the end of 2009
- Legislate a new National Home Care Program, following consultation with the provinces and territories, and provide $2 billion in funding to help provinces with the costs of the program
- Under a National Pharmaceuticals Strategy, the Liberal government would work with the provinces and territories to legislate a new drug coverage plan by 2006
- Increase the number of spaces in universities, colleges and residency programs by supporting a program to train 1,000 new Canadians to deal with the shortage of primary care providers
- Create a new dispute resolution process to review cases where concerns exist that the Canada Health Act may have been contravened
- $1 billion over five years to help families caring for seniors and the disabled, with delivery of aid co-ordinated with provinces
- The Liberals will establish an Aboriginal Health Transition Fund to create a more cohesive way of integrating provincial and territorial health care systems
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- "The Conservative Party will work with the provinces to implement the commitments of the 2003 Health Accord
- Will provide funding of $2 to $3 billion per year over five years in additional transfer payments for health care
- Allocate between $600 million and $800 million over the next four years to pay for the establishment of a national catastrophic drug program
- Supports the goal of achieving national catastrophic drug coverage by 2005-06, and will report to Canadians on how provinces are planning to ensure this goal
- Will ensure that performance indicators on timely access, quality, sustainability and health status and wellness are developed
- Provide Canadians with a list of common home care services eligible for coverage
- Work with the provinces through the Canada Health Council to monitor and report on waiting lists and explore ways of dealing with the problem
- Support the appointment of a Chief Public Health Officer and the creation of the Canada Public Health Agency
- Define federal and provincial governments' roles during public health crises
- Agree on a compensation formula for public health emergencies
- Clear the drug approval backlog and bring drug approval waiting times in line with the U.S. average
- Treat natural health products as "food style" rather than "drug style" products
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- Canadians should be entitled to quality health care, regardless of wealth
- Reduce prescription drug costs with a national bulk-buying program
- Prohibit public money from going to private-for-profit clinics, and make diagnostics such as MRI's medically necessary services
- Phase in a pharmacare program, starting with low-income Canadians and those facing massive drug costs
- Outlaw the practice of "evergreening" prescription drugs. (evergreening refers to the practice of putting patent applications on slight variations of the same drug)
- Improve health-care services for First Nations; focus on closer-to-home solutions, rather than medical evacuations
- Implement public and non-profit-based home care
- Establish more community-based clinics to deal with minor medical problems
- Restore funding to ParticipAction, that national program that encouraged physical activity
- Promote proven alternative and traditional health practices
- Ban trans fatty acids in foods as they have done in a few European countries
- Ensure access to safe, therapeutic abortions
- Ensure the federal government address by "Romanow Gap" by paying 25 per cent of its costs within two years
- Better recognize foreign credentials of health professionals
- Implement recommendations on nursing shortages, made by the Canadian Nursing Advisory Committee
- Create a National Public Health Agency, modeled on the U.S. Centers for Disease Control
- Pursue a major federal plan focusing on prevention through better nutrition, exercise, quality housing and a healthy environment
- Take a precautionary approach to the approval of food and drugs
- Establish a Royal Commission to look at how to protect the sustainability of medicare
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- Create an independent health-care system, run by Quebec
- Make health prevention a priority
- Maintain universal health care and increase its financing
- Ottawa must correct the fiscal imbalance between the Quebec government and the federal government via a massive fiscal transfer from Ottawa to Quebec
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- Promote more outdoor activities and nutritious eating
- Provide research funding for alternative healing practices
- Enforce stricter labeling of food
- Establish the Canadian National Health Council, as recommended by the Romanow Commission
- Cut down on the number of working hours
- Replace the current Canada Food Guide with a new food guide that emphasizes fruits, vegetables and (for the first time) alternatives to meat and dairy products
- Hold a referendum on expanding the Canada Health Act to include prescription medicines
- Set targets to increase the number of Canadians who are physically active by 10 percentage points over the next five years
- Compensate doctors and hospitals that promote healthy living and disease prevention
- Establish three task forces to address health care problems "on a holistic and societal level"
- Respect the rights of the terminally ill to refuse treatment
- Reduce by 15 per cent the prevalence of obesity, as well as some cancers, including breast, colon, lung and prostate
- Encourage the full-cost pricing of tobacco products and junk food
- Ensure that Health Canada has enough funding to continue aboriginal and population-health initiatives
- Prohibit reproductive cloning
- Allow surplus cells created through IVF to be used for research
- Allow the creation of embryonic stem cells through nuclear transfer
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