2 million dollars isn't much, but it is better than nothing. Seems British Columbia gets lots of services that other provinces don't. Maybe I should move. Ontario health care is awful, at least where I live. I don't even have a doctor. There are no clinics to go to for specialized care. Related bloodtests are not covered by OHIP.
GlenP == do you know how this funding came about?
With respect to the question of how this funding came about, let me hazard a reply.
If I were to believe the comments on the Globe and Mail article, Id have to think that the funding came about because of a scathing report on Lyme disease.
The Open Message to the Minister of Health by Mike Farnworth (copied below) seems to confirm this.
This project, focusing on difficult-to-diagnose-and-treat chronic illnesses, including ME/CFS, has been in the works for some time. But I didnt know anything about the Schmidt Report until now.
However the funding came about, Im pretty happy about the news of a new clinic and study!
Open Message to the Minister of Health: Implement the Schmidt Report on Lyme Disease Now
March 30, 2011
A confidential Ministry of Health report was released this week pursuant to a freedom of information request.
The report states that the B.C. Lyme test is inadequate and recommends urgent attention be given to devising better diagnostic and treatment standards. It suggests B.C. should lead Canada in implementing higher standards of care. It recommends we begin treating the chronic form of Lyme disease, as this places a significant burden on patients, who are sometimes given few options or hope.
As a former Minister of Health, I can tell you its sometimes necessary to modernize the standard of care for emerging diseases. This is one of those times. With global warming, Lyme disease is moving in, big-time. Its now present in communities right across southern B.C. Its damaging more and more families, and B.C. is not moving quickly to improve standards of care.
As a candidate for Leader who aspires to become Premier, Im giving an undertaking today that we will initiate an overhaul of B.C. Lyme disease diagnosis and treatment standards, based on the directions recommended in the Schmidt report released today. But I also want to urge the new Minister of Health to move forward today.
Lyme disease was the lead story on the front page of the Vancouver Sun earlier this week: BC Doctors lack ability to diagnose Lyme Disease ran the headline.
Lyme disease is the fastest growing infectious disease in North America, so how is it our doctors dont have the skills to detect it? In fact, doctors have been taught that we dont have Lyme disease in B.C., that theyll rarely see it, and that they dont need knowledge but should rely on a diagnostic test to prove its there.
The result is more and more infected British Columbians who are being denied access to treatment and forced to suffer a painful, debilitating illness. Yet Lyme disease, if diagnosed early, can be cured with off-the-shelf antibiotics at a miniscule cost. Giving docs the skills to do just that should be our first priority.
Our citizens should never be forced to endure treatable illness, nor forced to drain their savings and sell their homes in order to buy care in another country. Thats whats happening here today, and it has to stop.
We have the skills and innovative research capabilities right here in BC to deal with Lyme disease its time we got on with the job.
Sincerely,
Mike Farnworth