The McMaster satellite on UW's new campus will start with 14 students and grow to a complement of 84 within seven years. Physicians will be recruited to Waterloo Region to teach them and, overall, it's estimated that more than 450 students and residents would have medical training in Waterloo Region by 2012. These changes will have a noticeable effect in alleviating the shortage of physicians in this area, university officials told regional council on Wednesday.

The Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine, the second-largest medical school in Ontario, produces doctors faster than other schools -- in three years rather than four. The first class in Kitchener will begin in September 2007 and graduate by the end of the decade.

"It makes sense to train medical students from the local area right here in their home community," said McMaster University President Peter George. "If we train them here, they will practice here. Simple as that."

"What a wonderful opportunity for the University of Waterloo to give back to the community by welcoming McMaster's Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine to the Health Sciences Campus," said UW President David Johnston. "Combining our respective strengths, we contribute to the development of health sciences for Canada, and address the doctor shortage. Accessibility and quality of health care, so critical to the future well being of our community, will also be improved."

Anchored by UW's new School of Pharmacy and the medical school, the UW Downtown Kitchener Health Sciences Campus will include an optometry clinic and the Centre for Family Medicine, a residency program for students wishing to specialize in family medicine.

The innovative project builds on Kitchener's $30-million commitment and gift of land to the University of Waterloo. The Health Sciences Campus will attract a wide range of health professionals and address the need for expertise in health technology, health informatics, biosciences, population studies and biomedical engineering, while filling the urgent demand for more pharmacists and doctors in Ontario.

Among the benefits for the community in Waterloo Region:

* Locating a medical school in Waterloo Region will improve attraction and retention of doctors to an under-serviced community. It is widely known that a high percentage of physicians tend to practice where they are trained.

* McMaster University will offer its students a choice of campus based on preference and geographic background.

* The development of a primary care clinic and specialist clinics across the Local Health Integration Network (LHIN) will improve community access to an integrated spectrum of health care services.

* UW is ready to collaborate with McMaster in several integrated teaching opportunities, including some joint learning with students in the School of Pharmacy, scheduled to open in September 2007. Others may include combined degrees in health informatics, public health, imaging and so forth.

* Waterloo Region has the largest Ontario cluster of hospitals that are not currently teaching hospitals, providing an ideal opportunity for practicums and experienced-based learning.

* A dynamic community with innovative thinking as its hallmark, along with a rapidly growing population, will allow for transformation of research advances and knowledge into health benefits, economic opportunities and improved health care.

TORONTO - Sixty nine Ontario doctors have signed onto a letter asking Premier Dalton McGuinty to stop the privatization of Ontario's hospitals through so called Public Private Partnerships, or P3s.

The McGuinty government has gone further than any other government in Canada in privatizing formerly public and non-profit hospital assets and services through P3s. There are at least 24 planned P3 hospital projects in Ontario, with 22 of them created entirely by the current government.

The release of this letter comes a week before the Ontario Health Coalition's Hamilton plebiscite (citizen-called referendum) asking Hamilton residents to vote to keep the four hospitals in Hamilton fully public and to reject P3 privatization. On Saturday March 25, more than 80 voting stations will open across Hamilton garnering tens of thousands of votes. The results will be released to the media on Monday, March 27.

Says Dr. Ted Haines, author of the letter:

"We looked at the peer-reviewed evidence in the most prestigious international medical journals. We informed the Premier that we are deeply concerned about the government's plans to impose privatized P3s on our hospitals. P3s have proved to cost more and to result in compromised services. Hospitals funded through P3s have almost invariably provided less capacity than the hospitals they are intended to replace.

"The funding mechanism promoted by the government's 'Alternative Funding and Procurement' is a version of a Private Public Partnership, or P3, in which for-profit consortia take over financing, construction, facility management, maintenance and some hospital services for long term deals stretching up to 40 years. The companies often seek additional revenue through commercial land deals on public hospital lands, and service charges or user fees for patients and their visitors. This for-profit health industry has an interest in two tier healthcare from which they can take profit, further increasing the cost of healthcare."

"We are reminding the Premier of the findings of the Romanow Commission that looked at all the evidence regarding these private hospital deals. Mr. Romanow found that there was no evidence that these hospitals are better or cheaper. Moreover, he found them to be inconsistent with the values of Canadians or with the tenets of the Canada Health Act.

"We are calling on the Premier to act in the public interest and use citizens' tax dollars responsibly. Hospital construction and services must be publicly funded and hospitals must remain fully publicly managed and serviced," concluded Dr. Haines.

The full letter is available on line at www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca and www.hwcn.org/link/mrg

Formal consultations with Canada's healthcare professionals have yet to occur. Rather than wait to be asked for their input, the physicians and pharmacists participating in this week's forum are taking their message to Ottawa.

The NPS is part of Canada's 10-year plan to strengthen the delivery of health care. Announced in September 2004, the NPS is initially mandated to address five significant areas:

- catastrophic drug coverage for Canadians with high medication costs or little or no coverage;
- accelerated access to expensive, breakthrough drugs;
- a single, national drug formulary to replace current provincial listings of drugs eligible for coverage;
- improved evaluations of "real-world" drug safety and effectiveness;
and
- purchasing strategies to obtain best prices for Canadians.

The doctors and pharmacists at next week's event will draw from their experiences with patients to voice their opinions on these components of the NPS - as well as put forward new priorities. Timely access to optimal therapy is central to the well-being of Canadian patients and their relationships with their physicians and pharmacists. This is the foundation of the Canadian healthcare system and should be a central part of any discussion of a proposed NPS.

The Ottawa Forum is hosted by The Medical Post and Pharmacy Practice, Canada's leading independent medical publications. Together, they have a 68-year history serving Canada's physicians and pharmacists.

WATERLOO -- A University of Waterloo researcher who participated in a major international study measuring the impact of smoking on air quality in Irish pubs around the world says the results made public today underscore the need for smoke-free laws to protect public health.

The study on air quality in Irish pubs found that indoor air pollution in authentic Irish pubs in Ireland, where a smoke-free law has been in effect for two years, is 91 per cent lower than in Irish pubs located in other countries and cities where smoke-free laws do not apply. The report is titled, How Smoke-free Laws Improve Air Quality: A Global Study of Irish Pubs.

Geoffrey Fong, a UW professor of psychology, coordinated the Canadian and Beijing part of the global study on air quality in Irish pubs located in 45 cities in 13 countries. Fifteen of the 45 Irish pubs were in smoke-free communities, while the other 30 were in smoking-permitted communities. Waterloo was one of the test sites.

Besides Fong, researchers from Harvard School of Public Health, Roswell Park Cancer Institute and health authorities in Ireland collaborated on the global study that assessed air samples from a total of 128 "Irish pubs" in 15 countries in North America, Europe, Australia and Asia.

In March 2004, the Republic of Ireland became the first country to have a nationwide ban on indoor smoking in all public spaces, including restaurants and pubs. The policy provides an opportunity to assess the effectiveness of comprehensive smoke-free laws by comparing Irish indoor public spaces to public spaces elsewhere.

Despite claims that the law could have a negative economic impact, Ireland has seen no decline in business at pubs and restaurants. In fact, business in that sector has improved, according to the Central Statistics Office in Ireland

"This study demonstrates so clearly the power of smoke-free laws to reduce and eliminate a source of extreme hazard for the public," Fong said. "Tobacco smoke pollution is a leading cause of premature death."

He also said that it has been estimated that for every eight smokers who die of a smoking-related disease, one non-smoker dies of second-hand smoke. "People have very little idea how poisonous tobacco smoke is. It's far more than a mere inconvenience; it is very dangerous."

He added that improved ventilation within pubs is not a solution. "The ferocity of the ventilation required to reduce tobacco smoke to non-hazardous levels has been compared to a tornado. So claims that ventilation systems can significantly reduce health hazards of tobacco smoke are not accurate."

Fong said the comprehensive smoke-free law in Ireland has been a resounding success.

The presence of tobacco smoke in Irish pubs went from 98 per cent of pubs to about five per cent after the law. By comparison, tobacco smoke remained at 97 per cent of pubs in the United Kingdom.

As well, smokers supported the smoke-free law after its implementation, with 83 per cent of puffers saying that the smoke-free law in Ireland was "a good thing" or "a very good thing" for Ireland, and 64 per cent saying they supported "the total ban on smoking inside pubs."

"The Irish Pub study demonstrates at the global level both the successes of smoke-free laws and the challenges to health that still exist in countries that have not yet implemented smoke-free laws," Fong said.

Protection against exposure to tobacco smoke is one of the policies of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), the world's first international health treaty. The 120-plus countries that have ratified the FCTC now are obligated to pass laws that will indeed protect people against tobacco smoke in public places.

On May 31, the Smoke-Free Ontario Act will be implemented in the province, which will prohibit smoking in all enclosed workplaces and public places, including bars, restaurants, bingo halls and private clubs (such as legion halls). Still, smoking will be allowed on outdoor patios that do not have a roof.

"This is a significant advance in public health laws in Ontario," Fong said. "But the technical definitions of what a roof is will likely be a challenge for regulators and for owners of hospitality establishments. Beyond that challenge, there will still be restaurant and bar staff who will be exposed to significant levels of tobacco smoke."

TORONTO - A growing number of Canadians are researching health information on the Internet to diagnose their own medical conditions, says HealthInsider, a national survey by IBM.

IBM's latest health survey of 2,500 Canadians found of those who used the Internet to obtain health information, 37 per cent had done so in an attempt to diagnose themselves. This is a 48 per cent increase over 2003. Additionally, more than a quarter of those seeking health information looked to confirm or question their physician's diagnosis. The study also revealed the number of Canadians using the Internet to check the results of medical research, speak to others with the same health condition or to manage a health condition has increased since 2003.

"The Internet has become the main source of health information for approximately three in 10 Canadians," said Neil Stuart, a partner in IBM Business Consulting Services' healthcare practice. "In 2003, the Internet surpassed the physician as Canada's primary source for health information. Now we see a trend toward Canadians using physicians and the Internet equally, indicating online medical information is being used more prudently." While more Canadians are using the Internet for diagnostic purposes, the vast majority feel it is difficult to determine which information found online can be trusted and that the quality of medical information on the Internet needs to be improved, the study said.

The top criteria used to determine the validity of the health information on a particular Web site are: endorsement by a recognized expert or authority; an affiliation with a credible health organization (such as a medical school); or third-party content control (such as accreditation by the government).

Canadians use the Internet to get health information because it's convenient, with 44 per cent of respondents saying that it was "easy and simple to get health information online," and 30 per cent saying online information is "accessible 24 hours a day."

Other findings of interest:

- Those who use the Internet in Ontario are most likely to use it to get health information, and Saskatchewan Internet users are the least likely.

- Of the Canadians who obtained health information on the Internet, almost 50 per cent in BC and Ontario spoke with their doctors about the health information they found online, compared to 42 per cent in Alberta and 38 per cent in Saskatchewan

- While Internet use was highest among Canadians age 15-24, this group used the Internet the least to find health information

- Males and females reported similar rates of Internet use, but females were more likely to search for health information online

London School of Economics Validation: "High Probability of Underestimation" in Half-Billion Health Interventions 2000-2005, Valued at US$4.4 Billion, Recorded by IFPMA Survey

LONDON, UK, March 8 - The London School of Economics (LSE) Health & Social Care Unit today issued a formal Validation Report on the Health Partnerships Survey undertaken last year by the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA).

The Health Partnerships Survey, unveiled in December 2005 by Dr. Daniel Vasella, IFPMA President and Chairman and CEO of Novartis, determined that, over the five years since the United Nations announced its Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the 126 health partnerships created by the R&D pharmaceutical industry have provided enough health interventions to help up to 539 million people, or more than two-thirds the population of sub-Saharan Africa (1). In the process, the industry made available medicines, vaccines, equipment, health education and manpower worth US$4.38 billion (2), with the cost of donated medicines valued conservatively at their wholesale price.

The lead author of the report, Dr. Panos Kanavos, Lecturer in International Health Policy at the LSE, said "Having thoroughly reviewed the raw data and compared it with publicly available sources of information, our conclusion is that the IFPMA Survey is a conservative measure of the pharmaceutical industry's overall philanthropic effort to improve the health of people living in developing countries. Where contributions were difficult to value, they were excluded from the total, which therefore very probably underestimates the sector's combined contribution. For example, companies' investments in R&D into tropical diseases offering little or no commercial return was not counted."

He continued: "As far as we could discern, the Survey represents a first attempt by any industry to provide a global estimate of its role in the partnership to achieve the MDGs. It sets a standard to which other important industries might aspire, encouraging them to measure their commitment to the developing world."

The authors of the LSE report recommended that the IFPMA repeat the Survey on a regular basis, using a consistent methodology, to provide an up-to-date record of the industry's overall commitment to the MDGs. They also felt that the decision to exclude expenditure on R&D in neglected diseases disproportionately affecting developing countries helped to underestimate the overall industry contribution and that measurement of this R&D investment would be a welcome addition to future surveys.

(1) The survey measured the number of people potentially receiving help by counting (a) the delivery of sufficient medicine to cure one person of one disease, (b) the provision of a course of therapy sufficient to manage one disorder in one person for one year, (c) provision of sufficient vaccine to immunize one person against one disease for at least one year, or (d) delivery of a proven program of health education to one person. These metrics were used because, while companies know the number of doses they make available, they have a less precise view of the number of patients actually treated. The total number of people receiving health assistance may be reduced if individuals are treated more than once by the same program or receive help from more than one program, but this is very difficult to quantify.

(2) This valuation includes cash contributions, donated drugs, diagnostics and vaccines valued at wholesale price, and other in-kind contributions such as direct provision of health care services, education and training, and infrastructure development and support, for developing countries only (the 153 countries classified as low or medium income by the World Bank). It excludes the value foregone of drugs sold at preferential prices and assistance provided via long-term health development programs in other countries, as well as all industry emergency relief contributions to natural disasters in developed countries, as with Hurricane Katrina, or in developing countries, as with the Indian Ocean tsunami. It also excludes spending on R&D into neglected diseases, disproportionately affecting people in developing countries.

The World Bank said malnutrition is costing developing countries as much as three percent of their annual gross domestic products and called for a new push to combat the problem in pregnant women and children younger than two years old, reports The Wall Street Journal.

A new World Bank report issued Thursday entitled “Repositioning Nutrition as Central to Development,” estimated lost productivity resulting from an undernourished population. According to the report, the effect is significant suggesting that Africa and the South Asian economies together are losing as much as $36 billion a year, or 3 percent of those regions’ 2003 GDPs, said Meera Shekar, Senior Nutrition Specialist in the World Bank's Human Development Network in Washington and lead author of the report.

The BBC (UK) writes the World Bank estimates that nearly 60 percent of children who die across the world each year from common diseases such as diarrhea and malaria could have survived had they not been malnourished in the first place. "Poor nutrition is implicated in more than half of all child deaths worldwide - a proportion unmatched by any infectious disease since the Black Death," said Jean-Louis Sarbib, Senior Vice President for human development at the World Bank. "It is intimately linked with poor health and environmental factors, and yet policymakers, politicians and economists often fail to recognize these connections," he added.

The Washington Post notes that in many countries where malnutrition is widespread, food production is not the limiting factor unless there is famine, according to the report. Rather, some of the most important factors stem from the fact that pregnant and nursing woman eat too few calories and too little protein, have untreated infections that lead to low birth weight or get too little rest. Mothers have too little time to take care of their young children or themselves during pregnancy and often discard their first breast milk in the first few days after birth which strengthens the child's immune system. In addition, mothers often feed babies food other than breast milk during their first six months even though exclusive breast milk is the best source of nutrients and gives the best protection against disease.

The New York Times writes the study notes that the irreversible damage malnutrition causes to children occurs by age two, long before they begin primary school, and the World Bank contends that efforts to combat this scourge must concentrate on the brief window of opportunity between gestation and age two, with a focus on teaching mothers to properly feed and care for babies and toddlers.

Agence France Presse adds that the problem is at its most severe in South Asia and not, as might be supposed, in Sub Saharan Africa. Rates of under-nutrition in children in India, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Pakistan range from 38 to 51 percent, compared to 26 percent for countries in Sub Saharan Africa. "Nearly half of India's children are undernourished, compared with a quarter of those in Sub Saharan Africa," said Praful Patel, World Bank Vice President for South Asia. The report warned however, that malnutrition is on the rise in Sub Saharan Africa, and noted that since malnutrition and HIV/AIDS reinforce each other, the success of HIV/AIDS programs in Africa depends in part on paying more attention to nutrition.

The Times of India notes the report states that India has one of the world's worst rates of childhood malnutrition, a fact that keeps the country from developing even faster. “Twenty-six percent of children in the highest income bracket in India are underweight and 65 percent are anemic,” said Shekar. "Anaemic children perform less well in school, are more likely to drop out and have lower intellectual and physical productivity as adults. Everyone talks about how well India is doing in the IT industry. Imagine how much better it could do, if 65 percent of the richest and 88 percent of the poorest children were not anemic," the report said.

Reuters writes the report urged aid donors and development agencies to use their combined resources of aid, analysis and advocacy to persuade governments to move nutrition up the agenda. But it said funding for nutrition programs was woeful. It urged the development community to co-finance a grant fund that would complement a recent $3.6 million World Bank grant to boost understanding and research of nutrition in maternal and child health programs. Initial estimates suggested the costs to address micronutrient deficiencies in Africa was about $235 million, but it said more comprehensive global vitamin and iodized salt programs would likely cost more than $1 billion a year.

The New York Times notes that while many experts would agree with the Bank's assessment of the evidence on malnutrition, its policy recommendations are sure to be controversial at a time when the world is pushing to halve poverty in the coming decade and school feeding programs are often seen as part of the solution.

The following outlets also reported on the World Bank’s “Repositioning Nutrition as Central to Development” study: EFE News Service (Spain), Liberation (France), Tages Anzeiger (Switzerland), The Associated Press, Business Week, Forbes, CBS News, MSN Money/CNBC, WJLA (NBC, Washington, DC), The LA Times, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Houston Chronicle, The Seattle Post Intelligence, Fort Worth Star Telegram, Orlando Sentinel, The Australian, Red Orbit, Salon.com, Harold News Daily, Bismark Tribune, Brocktown News, The Macon Telegraph, ElyTimes, Jackson News-Tribune, NewsDay, and News One (Canada).

Respondents Express Desire for Better Scheduling and Self-Service - Capabilities to Elevate Levels of Patient Care, Reduce Staff Turnover

TORONTO - Workbrain Corporation announced the results of its survey of attendees at the 2006 Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) Annual Conference & Exhibition held Feb. 12 - 15, 2006 in San Diego, CA. The survey confirmed that respondents link automated scheduling and nurse self-service with improved patient outcomes. Respondents also expressed the need for greater visibility into the health and performance of their workforce with the ability to anticipate staffing needs and ensuring staff with the appropriate skillset are deployed in the departments that need them most.

Automated Scheduling Key to Reducing Nurse Burn-out and Medical Errors It is clear from the responses that maintaining top quality patient care remains a priority for hospitals. 85 percent of respondents believe that having the right skillset on the floor at the right time reduces overall medical errors. However, only 56 percent of respondents believe that their organization does a good job of having the right set of skills on the floor at the right time. This points to the need for hospitals to carefully schedule employees in accordance with the department's projected demand and manage optimal staffing by not only having the right number of employees, but also the right mix - a challenge for hospitals who rely on manual, paper-based scheduling processes. Automated scheduling systems enable healthcare organizations to match demand projections against staff availability to manage labor costs while improving patient care and reducing nurse burn-out.

Scheduling shift lengths that minimize medical errors is another concern for healthcare providers. In the Health Affairs article "The Working Hours of Hospital Staff Nurses and Patient Safety." the authors point out that "both errors and near errors are more likely to occur when hospital staff nurses work twelve or more hours at a stretch."(1) Automated scheduling enables healthcare organizations to staff more flexibly, offering shorter shifts to meet peak demand needs while potentially reducing medical errors.

Moreover, while 87 percent of respondents believe that the ability to accurately predict future staffing needs is an important component of their business strategy, only 47 percent of respondents indicated that their hospitals could currently predict these needs.

Self-Service Reduces Nurse Burn-out, Improves Employee Satisfaction 87 percent of respondents believe that nurse burn-out adversely affects patient outcomes. When asked to rate the factors that reduce nurse burn-out, 81 percent of respondents rated self-scheduling above reduced overtime or shorter shifts. Respondents also recognize the link between greater nurse autonomy and higher patient care, with 76 percent of respondents maintaining that care improves when nurses feel they have more control over their work life. Additionally, 85 percent of respondents felt that increased autonomy over scheduling would decrease turnover throughout the organization. And while self-scheduling topped the list of factors that positively impact nurse burn-out and reduce turnover, only 37 percent of respondents felt that their hospitals' self-service processes were sufficiently automated.

"The survey validates what we have known all along: allowing staff to manage their own schedule in accordance with hospital rules not only reduces employee turnover but also improves patient care - simultaneously addressing two big challenges for healthcare organizations of all sizes," said Jennifer Langer, senior director, healthcare solutions, Workbrain. "We work with leading healthcare organizations to ensure that Workbrain's healthcare- specific solutions like the Real-Time Self Scheduler improve patient care while boosting nurse satisfaction."

Workbrain for Healthcare helps innovative healthcare organizations budget, schedule, deploy and track their staff in alignment with quality care, patient satisfaction, financial performance and staff retention goals.

▪ Encouraging quality improvement through a continuous self assessment process

▪ Providing assurance to peers and the public that the organization has defined missions and objectives that are appropriate for the jurisdictions they serve

▪ Providing a detailed evaluation of the department and the services it provides to the community.

Background:

The Commission on Fire Accreditation International Inc (CFAI) is a non-profit corporation with a mission to promote excellence within the fire service through continuous quality improvement. That mission is achieved through a variety of ways including two programs which offer agency accreditation and chief fire officer designation, as well as other projects that enhance training, quality and information available to fire and emergency service agencies and personnel.

CFAI was formed in 1996 following a decade of development as a joint venture of the International Association of Fire Chiefs and the International City Management Association. The two organizations recognized the difficulties faced by local citizens, and elected and appointed officials, trying to measure fire service performance in the absence of universally recognized standards.

The accreditation process allows fire agencies to measure themselves against industry-wide benchmarks. Agencies that receive accreditation are required to undergo periodic review in order to maintain their accredited status

New Act Will Mean Better Coordinated Health Care Services For Ontarians

TORONTO - The McGuinty government is strengthening Ontario's health care system and responding to local health care needs by providing Local Health Integration Networks (LHINs) with new powers through legislation, which received third and final reading yesterday, said Health and Long-Term Care Minister George Smitherman.

"Our government is building a health care system around the needs of communities and patients," Smitherman said. "This legislation will allow important health care decisions to be made at the community level by people who best understand the needs and priorities of community. We're moving toward a system that is better planned, coordinated and accountable."

After receiving Royal Assent, the Local Health System Integration Act, 2006, will give the 14 LHINs in the province the power to plan, integrate and fund local health services -- including hospitals, Community Care Access Centres, Community Health Centres, as well as home care, long-term care, mental health, addiction and community support services -- for their specific geographic areas.

"The Council of Academic Hospitals of Ontario (CAHO) supports the implementation of this meaningful and needed reform," said Dr. Jack Kitts, president of CAHO and The Ottawa Hospital. "LHINs will define Ontario's social landscape and enable changes on the ground, where patients receive care from Ontario's high-quality health providers."

The networks will allow local communities and health care providers to work together to identify local priorities, plan health services and deliver them in a more coordinated fashion. The government would continue to set strategic directions and provincial standards for high-quality, accessible health care.

"LHINs will break down the barriers faced by patients trying to find the health care services they need because those services will be better coordinated," Smitherman said. The minister also noted that the final version of the act includes a number of amendments.

"We've listened to organizations and individuals who have asked for changes to the legislation," Smitherman said. "We've responded with a number of amendments that clearly improve the Local Health System Integration Act." This initiative is part of the McGuinty government's plan to build a health care system that delivers on three priorities -- keeping Ontarians healthy, reducing wait times and providing better access to doctors and nurses.

Soy protein, long known for its ability to help reduce the risk of heart disease in people with high cholesterol, is equally beneficial for heathy individuals, according to new research by a University of Guelph nutritional scientist.

The study by Prof. Alison Duncan was published this week in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. It found that soy protein, regardless of how much isoflavones it contains, helps reduce blood fats and the chances of cardiovascular disease in healthy men. Isoflavones — non-nutritive, naturally occurring plant chemicals found in high concentrations in soy — are known to have protective functions against hormone-related disorders including certain forms of cancer.

“Many previous studies support the role soy protein plays in reducing serum lipids, but few have looked at the role isoflavones play, especially in the diets of healthy people,” Duncan said. “If we want to maximize the cardiovascular disease prevention potential of soy, it’s also important to study healthy individuals, especially healthy young men, because most studies have focused only on women or both women and older men.”

Duncan’s study included 35 healthy men (average age 28) who took three different supplements for periods of eight weeks: “regular” milk protein, soy protein with low isoflavone content, and soy with high isoflavone content. The supplements were given in random order and spaced with a one-month break in between to ensure accurate findings.

“We found that isoflavone content doesn’t seem to influence the outcome,” she said.

Duncan added that, with heart disease being the leading cause of death among North Americans, research has increasingly focused on prevention. Diet is among the top prevention strategies because it’s the easiest, most natural way to modify blood lipid levels.

“Incorporating soy into a balanced diet is increasingly being seen as a positive step towards better health,” she said. “This study shows that it’s never too early to start and that there are benefits even for people who are healthy.”

University of Waterloo Daily Bulliten reported that a university-wide committee is preparing a plan detailing how UW would cope in the face of a pandemic of the much-feared "bird flu" or a similar disease that might make large numbers of people sick at the same time.

"Most large organizations have been asked to prepare a pandemic plan," says Catharine Scott, associate provost (human resources and student services), who's chairing the committee. "We're well into this," she added, saying that the plan will likely be approved and made public before the winter term is over.

The goal: "a plan for the university to deal with pandemic, if it arrives or when it arrives . . . how we will keep running and ensure that our students can complete their academics."

Committee members come from such departments as health services, the residences, the UW police, IST, co-op education and career services, human resources, plant operations and food services. Dean of science George Dixon represents academic interests and is the liaison with Deans' Council, the working body of top administrators. Federation of Students and Graduate Student Association leaders are also part of the group.

Governments have been preparing plans for major contagious disease attacks for almost two decades, but the issue has been given new urgency by the threat of bird flu -- also known as avian flu, H5N1, pandemic influenza or, more generally, Febrile Respiratory Illness (FRI). The Waterloo Region health department issued an update in November warning that "the threat of a pandemic is now at its highest level since 1968" and summarizing issues for health care and the local economy and community. Barbara Schumacher, director of health services at UW, is a member of the health department's "Community Pandemic Influenza Preparedness Plan Community Stakeholders" group.

TORONTO - Results of a recent public opinion poll show that 76 per cent of Ontarians are worried about new health service user fees and that they won't be able to afford needed medical care.

"The McGuinty government's Local Health Integration Networks (LHINs) scheme will spawn new out of pocket costs for patients", say four health care unions critical of the proposed new health care delivery model.

The Ontario Nurses' Association (ONA), the Service Employees International Union Local1.on (SEIULocal1.on), the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) and the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) believe the plan will dismantle the public health system and facilitate increased private delivery of care, more user fees and increased travel time and expenses for patients.

In January 2006, OPSEU, and ONA commissioned a Vector Research poll to find out what Ontarians knew about LHINs, if they believed it enhanced local control, and if they were concerned about having to pay for their future health care. The poll was taken between January 10-21.

The McGuinty Liberals are in a hurry to push the controversial Bill 36 (LHINs legislation) into law and have given notice they intend to shutdown debate on the Bill today. Yet the public consultations on this massive health care reform have been woefully inadequate, say the unions. They are critical that the Liberals haven't been forthright with Ontarians about how health service delivery will change and how services will be privatized, rationed and re-distributed over the vast areas of the new regional networks. Poll results show 82 per cent of Ontarians know little or nothing about the LHINs.

The LHINs legislation outlines the Liberals' clear intention to merge and transfer clinical and support services out of public, not-for profit hospitals and into the "community sector" - including long-term care homes and new private clinics. The scope of services covered publicly in hospitals, is more comprehensive than in "the community".

Drugs and medical devices are key areas where new user fees may be introduced as health services are transferred out of hospitals. Patients could potentially pay for entire services out of pocket, which is permitted under the LHINs legislation (section 25.3 of the Act). And they will incur new travel costs to access health services that have been moved out of their community and centralized in one location to cut the government's health care costs.

This further delisting of health services under the LHINs is contrary to what the Liberals committed to after they delisted eye exams and physiotherapy in 2005. At that time the health minister assured Ontarians that the McGuinty government had no more plans to delist additional health services. The four unions representing nearly 200,000 health care and community- based social service workers vow to continue to oppose the McGuinty health service re-structuring plan, even if Bill 36 becomes law. A province-wide multi-media advertising campaign launched recently by the unions will also continue.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and dozens of government ministers are meeting Tuesday at a Paris conference to discuss France's once-ridiculed call for an international tax to fight poverty and disease in the developing world, reports The Associated Press.

Ministers and envoys from 95 countries are joining dozens of NGOs at the two-day meeting, which also will consider creating a new international fund under the International Finance Facility to help buy AIDS drugs for poor countries. French President Jacques Chirac, with strong backing from Brazil, for the last four years has championed the idea aimed at paying for global efforts against poverty and disease in poor countries, although the plan has drawn harsh criticism from airlines and tourism sectors. Seventy-nine countries expressed support for the international tax proposal at the United Nations in September, but only Chile has taken solid steps toward creating it.

Les Echos (France) notes that among those who have expressed interest, Brazil, India, Thailand, Germany and Madagascar are expected to announce the establishment of a similar tax during the conference. Paris hopes that this "pilot group" will induce other countries to take the step. About twenty countries are currently in the building block phase. In France, the new contribution of solidarity, approved by the French Parliament in December 2005, should raise EUR210 million per year. It will not enter into effect until July 1, 2006. Its amount will be one Euro per domestic and intra-European economy class tickets and four euros for international flights. The fee will be 10 times higher for business and first-class tickets.

The Financial Times (UK) writes that French officials say that between five and ten countries are expected to commit themselves to the scheme this week and that this number is likely to double in the medium term. The US will not be among the 95 countries taking part in this week's meeting of mainly finance and development ministers. Officials in Germany said that it was as yet undecided whether Berlin would pledge to introduce a ticket tax as Hans Eichel, the country's former finance minister, was in favor of the scheme, but the new government of Chancellor Angela Merkel has yet to take a stance. A decision in favor of a ticket tax by Europe's largest economy - and a key player in the international air travel business - would add momentum to the movement behind new financial instruments for development aid. French officials insist the tax would not create more bureaucracy and could be administered cheaply by an existing institution such as the World Health Organization or UNICEF and held in a trust fund by the World Bank.

In an interview with Radio France Internationale, World Bank Vice President for Human Development, Jean-Louis Sarbib, explained that the purpose of the conference was to investigate various financial instruments available so that each country can decide what works best given its various policies or politics. Sarbib said he would prefer a combination of instruments that would help reach the Millennium Development Goals.

Liberation (France) adds that Sarbib said the airline tax idea would "offer supplementary and sustainable income." The International Monetary Fund is meanwhile expected to discuss the tax in a report to be released soon. As for countries, 107 supported the idea of the tax in September 2004, but as soon as it was a question of applying it to plane tickets one year later, there were no more than 79. Chile has already started charging a tax of $4 on international flights: $2 toward development and $2 toward tourism. A Brazilian official said that they expect to announce their decision Tuesday. The French government is also discussing the idea with China who has expressed a real interest. Aside from Madagascar, Mali, Mauritius and Cong-Brazzaville are also in the building block stage.

Finally, in a commentary published in The International Herald Tribune, Secretary General of the International Chamber of Commerce, Guy Sebban, writes that the airline tax will not improve the lives of the poor. Rather, he writes, the tax will penalize the very people intended to profit from it and divert attention from proven methods of fighting poverty, such as lifting barriers to trade. According to Sebban, there is a better way to increase funds for crucial antipoverty initiatives: Remove barriers to trade, investment and entrepreneurship in an open market. More specifically, bring the WTO's Doha round of trade negotiations to a successful conclusion by the end of this year as the World Bank has repeatedly proved that open markets and economic liberalization are the straightest and most sure route to economic growth and development.

InResponse® supplement supports insulin function by reducing oxidative stress

Kitchener— Response Scientific/Canada Inc., announced last week that InResponse®, a patented antioxidant supplement clinically proven to promote healthy blood glucose levels and support insulin function, will now be available in stores in Canada. The supplement, under development since 1996, has been shown in two clinical trials to support blood glucose metabolism and promote healthy HbA1c (Glycated Haemoglobin) levels. The product is being rolled out through independent pharmacies and select natural products retailers and practitioners beginning in the Kitchener-Waterloo area.

“Ideally we’d like to support independent businesses, and it just makes sense to start in our hometown before working our way across the country,” said Rosalind Horne, Vice-President.

InResponse is already available in Kitchener stores Full Circle Foods and Resto Health Foods. The product is also sold at Advanced Wholistic Centre in Waterloo, through Lu Lanzon who does natural health consultations to teach clients how to heal with herbs, vitamins, and homeopathy.

Control of blood glucose levels is a day-to-day concern for the close to two million of Canadians suffering from diabetes. According to Health Canada, approximately one third of these people are unaware they have the disease. Type 2 diabetes is one of the fastest growing diseases in Canada with more than 60,000 new cases yearly.

Testing of the product has included an open label clinical study on 90 patients conducted at major medical centers, and a 20-patient confirmatory, double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized clinical study at Duke University Medical Center. The studies showed that InResponse’s antioxidant formulation reduced blood glucose levels by as much as 20 percent after three months. The product has no known side effects or contraindications when used in conjunction with other blood glucose lowering agents.

InResponse was specifically cited in the January 2004 issue of the Journal of Investigative Medicine in a review article by Emmanuel C. Opara, Ph.D., Research Professor of Biomedical Science at the Pritzker Institute of Biomedical Engineering at Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, Illinois. Opara, who led one of the studies of InResponse while at Duke University Medical Center, has been published widely on the role of oxidative stress in diabetes, and the emerging concept of using antioxidant supplementation to help manage blood glucose levels and the associated complications of diabetes.

“It has been suggested that some degree of supplementation with certain vitamins and minerals would be worthwhile for the regulation of blood glucose levels in diabetic patients,” Dr. Opara commented. “This concept has been supported by the data that I obtained in the open label study with the InResponse formulation.”

Oxidative stress is the result of an imbalance of antioxidants within the blood stream, which causes blood glucose levels to rise above healthy levels. InResponse has a unique combination of proven antioxidant ingredients, in specific strengths, reducing the stress from the oxidative process. Reducing oxidative stress is important in the proper metabolism of insulin, and enables the body to utilize insulin more efficiently. Response Scientific, maker of InResponse, utilizes only pharmaceutical grade ingredients in the forms that are most bio-available.

“Today, many people are looking for ways to combine nutrition, exercise and other means to promote healthy blood glucose levels,” said Gregg Webster, President and CEO of Response Scientific. “InResponse offers a new tool – a nutritional supplement that is supported by sound science – for consumers who are trying to actively manage their blood sugar levels to promote their overall health.”

Psychological distress was strongly associated with death. Of those seniors reporting high levels of psychological distress in 1994/95, about 62% of men and 44% of women had died eight years later. This compares with 37% of men and 25% of women at lower levels of distress.

Chronic disease more important for men

Among senior men, psychological distress remained positively associated with mortality even when age, financial and family stress, education and marital status were taken into account. But the impact of psychological distress was no longer statistically significant when the study took chronic diseases into account.

Low education, widowhood risk factors

For both sexes, the likelihood of dying during the eight-year period was higher among seniors who had not completed secondary education, compared with those who had.

In men, but not women, source of income was also a predictor of death. Those who relied on government pensions, income supplements or social assistance were more likely to have died than those who had other sources of income.

Men who were widowed had higher odds of dying than did those who were married or living with a partner. The protective impact of marriage for men with respect to mortality has been widely observed.

As expected, the study found that several health-related behaviours were related to the likelihood of dying. For example, chances rose among those who used to smoke or who were physically inactive.

The study also found that seniors who were underweight in 1994/95 were almost twice as likely to have died during the eight-year period. This may be an indicator of poor health and advanced age.

The World Bank said it is working with its UN partners to swiftly approve programs to combat the spread of bird flu with newly committed donor funds, reports Reuters.

The World Bank move coincides with reports on Wednesday of a fresh outbreak of the deadly virus in China, and the first known outbreak in Africa, where World Organization for Animal Health said the disease had spread to poultry in northern Nigeria. In an interview with Reuters, World Bank Vice President for Operations and Policy, Jim Adams said, "There is money now and the challenge is for governments to put proposals on the table which we will respond to very quickly." He said the first proposed funding from the $2 billion multi-donor war chest (pledge during a donor conference in Beijing on January 18), being managed by the World Bank, would likely be approved for Kyrgyzstan on Thursday.

Discussions are also underway with Turkey, where four people died from the virus last month, to consider tapping about $30 million in donor aid and grant funding to strengthen the country's capability to detect and eradicate bird flu. Adams said other countries also likely to benefit soon were Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Indonesia, Cambodia and Laos. A program in Vietnam could possibly be expanded, Adams said. He said the immediate priorities for the World Bank and UN agencies were to work with governments to identify their most pressing needs to tackle bird flu; to ensure transparency in how the funds are used; and to compile an international framework for monitoring the programs.

Adams said the aim was to ensure that programs and funding approval were not caught in unnecessary bureaucracy. "We have deliberately put in place a framework we think will make things a lot easier to get into the program," Adams said. "If circumstances change, obviously there has to be some adaptation, but I do think that we found in Kyrgyz Republic - and now in Turkey - we are finding this approach to be quite effective in allowing us to move forward in weeks, instead of months, in preparing and appraising projects," he said. "For us timing is very important to get there before the problem," he pointed out. Adams said he anticipated a follow-up meeting - probably in Europe - of international donors before the onset of summer in the Northern Hemisphere to assess the global situation.

Bloomberg adds that Africa, already grappling with an AIDS epidemic and famine, may prove the weakest link in a global effort to stem bird flu, scientists and government officials said at a conference in Beijing last month. Millions of birds flock to the Great Rift Valley, running 8,700 kilometers (5,400 miles) from Syria to Mozambique, between July and October on their way from northern Asia to South Africa. The World Organization for Animal Health said yesterday it will send a team to the village of Jaji in Nigeria's Kaduna state to help the government.

In an interview with Bloomberg World Bank spokesman, Phil Hay said "The World Bank has offered help to several other countries in the region, including Eritrea, Kenya, and Malawi [and that] besides "monitoring the situation in Nigeria, the World Bank is currently helping Mozambique to finance avian flu prevention, preparedness and containment activities."

The Associated Press notes that bird farms across the entire north of Africa's most-populous nation are now under quarantine and a special assessment team was traveling around the region Thursday, said Junaidu Maina, Director of Nigeria's livestock department. He didn't say to how many of Nigeria's 36 states were under the quarantine order. "The significance is that it's a completely new continent that we need to be looking at," Alex Thiermann, an expert for the World Organization for Animal Health, said of H5N1's arrival on the world's poorest continent. Sub-Saharan Africa, with about 600 million of the world's poorest people, is particularly ill-equipped to deal with a major health crisis. With weak and impoverished government institutions in regions where many people keep chickens for badly needed food, experts say any mass killings of the animals - often a first step in controlling bird flu - will be difficult to pull off.

In related news, Reuters writes in a separate piece that that EU governments may soon be able to request funding to vaccinate their poultry against bird flu in areas considered high risk, as a short-term measure to stop the disease spreading, officials said on Thursday. Until now, vaccination has been allowed only in limited circumstances and the European Commission, which monitors national programs to keep dangerous strains of bird flu out of Europe, has shied away from generalized preventive vaccination.

LONDON, Feb. 6 - Arrow Therapeutics, the London based antiviral drug discovery and development company, has announced that its lead Hepatitis C compound has entered full preclinical development.
Originating from Arrow's focused chemical library and optimised in-house, the compound (A-831) has shown potent activity in the replicon assay and has an excellent therapeutic index and good pharmacokinetic properties, as well as displaying a novel mechanism of action targeting the NS5a protein. Phase I trials on the compound are planned for the second half of 2006, by which time a further compound from Arrow's second Hepatitis C programme (also targeting the NS5a protein) is expected to enter preclinical development.

The urgent need for novel Hepatitis C inhibitors has been well documented, with an estimated 170 million sufferers worldwide. The current treatment (Pegylated Interferon + ribavirin) has a poor side effect profile, is very expensive and is only effective in around 50% of patients. As with HIV/AIDS, multiple drugs in combination therapy are likely to be needed to overcome drug resistance. The value of the Hepatitis C market was approximately $3 billion in 2004 and is forecast to grow substantially, to greater than $6 billion in the next 5-7 years.

Arrow's CEO, Ken Powell, speaks of his delight at the advancements made within the programme, "We have been working hard on our Hepatitis C programmes since the foundation of the company. Arrow's compounds have a novel mechanism and show potent activity in the replicon assay - now well validated as a predictor of clinical activity through the work of Vertex and others. We regard NS5a as an excellent target, and these inhibitors should find an important place as constituents of combination regimens. The entry of the first programme into full preclinical development is an exciting step in the development of a novel therapy".

Scientists have developed an early-warning system for the outbreak of malaria epidemics. They claim that the system, which is based on computer models of climate change, can predict outbreaks up to five months in advance, reports The Guardian (UK).

In Botswana the National Malaria Control Program has developed an early-warning system based on population vulnerability, rainfall, and health surveillance to predict and detect unusual changes in the seasonal pattern of disease. The risk of an epidemic in Botswana increases dramatically just after a season of good rainfall. Tim Palmer of the European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasts in Reading used data on average rainfall from the past two decades to retrospectively predict the incidences of malaria in Botswana between 1982 and 2002. His method predicted all the epidemics. A separate study published last year showed that monitoring rainfall and sea surface temperature could predict the peak of a malaria season up to one month in advance. But the earlier warning provided by Palmer's work could give health workers more time to build up drug stocks or to target insecticides.

The Economist (UK) writes that prior early-detection mechanisms that look for the disease in sentinel sites on a weekly basis in more than 15 African countries, gave only a short time in which to respond to an outbreak. The new system, published this week in Nature, should help people in countries such as Botswana, South Africa and Swaziland, which now have the capacity to detect and respond to a malaria epidemic within two weeks. It should prove invaluable to those living in worse organized places such as Zimbabwe, which cannot respond so quickly.

The advanced warning comes at a price, however. The earlier the prediction is made, the less confidence the scientists have of its accuracy. Indeed, the system would appear to be slightly less accurate than other models. The gain in lead-time should nevertheless provide governments and non-governmental organizations with the opportunity to plan for a bad season.

The researchers are now focusing their efforts on making their model part of the routine epidemic-malaria control promoted by the World Health Organization in Zimbabwe and undertaken by the National Malaria Control Program in Botswana. In the coming years, they hope, the value of their early predictions should be measured in tens of thousands of lives.

Le Figaro (France) notes that Botswana, where malaria arises most frequently in March and April after the rainy season (which takes place from November to February) has not lost any time in implementing an early detection system. The country initiated an early detection system with a weekly notification of any incidences of malaria to the health ministry. The experimental system, which has already been implanted for two years, attracted the interest of its African neighbors, such as South Africa, Mozambique and Namibia where it could be on its way to being developed. Madeleine Thomson of the Earth Institute at Columbia University and a co-author of the study esteemed that what has been demonstrated in this project, and what makes it unique, is the speed in which the climate research has translated into concrete operations in Africa.

Waiting times remain the number one barrier for Canadians who had difficulties in accessing specialized health care services in 2005, according to preliminary results from the report Access to Health Care Services in Canada.

The data also show that between 2003 and 2005, median waiting times for all specialized services under study remained relatively stable at between three and four weeks. (The median is the point where exactly one half of waiting times are higher and one half lower.) Most individuals reported they received care within three months, which was also relatively unchanged.

The median waiting time was about four weeks for visits to specialists, four weeks for non-emergency surgery and three weeks for diagnostic tests.

However, there were some differences noted at the provincial level for selected specialized services. Median waiting times for non-emergency surgery were reduced by half in Quebec from almost nine weeks in 2003 to four weeks in 2005.

For diagnostic tests, median waiting times in New Brunswick rose from two weeks in 2003 to four weeks in 2005.

Similarly, patients' views about waiting for care remained fairly stable during the two-year period.

Waiting for care still number one barrier to access

While most individuals who accessed a specialized service did not experience any difficulties, some did. An estimated 2.8 million aged 15 or older visited a medical specialist in 2005. Of these, 18% reported that they faced difficulties accessing care.

Of the 1.5 million people who reported that they had non-emergency surgery, 11% reported that they had difficulty accessing care. Similarly, 15% of the 2.1 million people who accessed a diagnostic test also reported difficulties.

As in previous surveys, those who experienced difficulties cited waiting too long for care as the number one barrier.

Among people who experienced difficulties getting a consultation with a specialist, 65% indicated that waiting was a barrier. Over one-third (37%) indicated that they had difficulties getting an appointment, up from 25% in 2003.

Among those who had difficulties accessing non-emergency surgery, 79% indicated that it was because they had to wait too long. This was higher than the 62% who identified waiting as a barrier in 2003. One in five individuals reporting difficulties indicated that they experienced difficulties getting an appointment, a rate similar to 2003 results.

Similarly, among the 15% who had difficulties accessing diagnostic tests such as a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or computed tomogram (CT) scan, 58% reported that they waited too long to get an appointment, while 38% reported that they waited too long to get the test. The results are similar to those reported in 2003.

Waiting times varied with the type of non-emergency surgery

Waiting times varied by type of non-emergency surgery. For example, 42% of individuals receiving cardiac and cancer related surgery received care within one month. This was more than twice the proportion of 19% who waited a month or less for joint replacements or cataract surgery.

In contrast, 39% of those who had joint replacement or cataract surgery waited more than three months. This was nearly five times the proportion of 8% among those who waited over three months for cardiac and cancer related surgery.

There were some changes in the distribution of waiting times for two of the three types of non-emergency surgery. The proportion of cardiac and cancer related surgeries performed within one to three months nearly doubled from 27% in 2003 to 50% in 2005.

The proportion of patients who waited longer than three months for joint replacement and cataract surgeries increased from 26% to 39% during the two-year period.

Waits unacceptably long for some

Waiting for care is not inherently problematic, but may be considered so when patients experience adverse effects and/or feel they have simply waited too long for care.

The proportion of patients who felt their waiting time was unacceptable was highest among those who waited for specialist visits (29%) and diagnostic tests (24%).

It was lowest among those who waited for non-emergency surgery (17%), even though individuals are more likely to wait longer, that is, more than three months, for non-emergency surgical care compared with other specialized services.

This finding points to potential differences regarding thresholds for unacceptable waits across different specialized services. That is, Canadians may be more willing to wait longer for surgery than for a visit to the specialist.

Others experienced adverse effects

About one in five (19%) individuals who had a consultation with a specialist indicated that waiting for the visit affected their life, compared with about 13% among those who waited for non-emergency surgery or diagnostic tests.

Most individuals who were affected reported that they experienced worry, stress and anxiety during the waiting period. These feelings were reported by 52% of those whose lives were affected by waiting for non-emergency, and 70% of those affected by waiting for a consultation with a specialist.

About one-half of all individuals affected indicated that they experienced pain. Nearly 35% of those who were affected by waiting for a consultation with a specialist or non-emergency surgery indicated that they experienced difficulties with activities of daily living.

About 35% of those who were affected by waiting for a diagnostic test indicated that it resulted in worry, stress and anxiety for their friends and family members, which was double the proportion of 18% in 2003.

Ninety-Six Million Dollar Investment Designed To Reduce Wait Times and Improve Access

KITCHENER – As part of the McGuinty government’s $96 million comprehensive plan to reduce wait times at hospital emergency departments, Grand River Hospital is receiving $1.04 million in funding to establish a Critical Care Response Team, John Milloy, MPP for Kitchener Centre announced today on behalf of Health and Long-Term Care Minister George Smitherman.

“Better access to critical care services means a reduction in wait times for essential medical services and procedures,” said Milloy. “Today’s investment at Grand River Hospital goes to the heart of creating a better health care system in Ontario: improving patient safety, easing emergency department delays and ensuring the appropriate use of highly specialized and expensive resources.”

The Critical Care Strategy will be implemented over the next three years. It has four elements:

• Critical Care Response Teams (CCRTs) – $ 29.4 million to create CCRTs across Ontario. CCRTs consist of intensive care physicians, intensive care nurses and Respiratory Therapists who are available 24/7 to take the skills and expertise of a critical care unit beyond its four walls. This year, the government is establishing 26 CCRTs.

• Increased Intensive Care Unit (ICU) bed capacity – A total of $38.3 million to open more adult ICU beds and Chronic Assisted Ventilatory Care beds across Ontario.

• Health Human Resources – A total of $10 million to provide critical care training to 450 nurses per year, increase the number of training spots for intensive care doctors by 10 (from eight per year to 18 per year), support CCRTs, train community hospital physicians in advanced resuscitation techniques and fund staff retention programs.

• Other system initiatives – An additional $12.2 million will support related initiatives. Key areas that will receive support include the establishment of a Performance Measurement System; the development of a policy to address ethical issues related to critical care access and a series of quality improvement initiatives.

“Investing in CCRTs, along with the other initiatives announced today, demonstrates the government’s willingness and commitment to ensuring that not only Ontarians receive the critical care they deserve, but that they receive it in the most timely manner possible,” said Bob Bell, Co-chair of the Critical Care Steering Committee.

“Our hospitals and health care facilities have to be more than bricks and mortar – they need the right doctors, the nurses and other health care professionals to have all the tools necessary to help keep Ontarians strong and healthy,” said Smitherman. “This announcement reaffirms our commitment to making those tools available in order to increase patient safety and reduce wait times.”

This initiative is part of the McGuinty government’s plan to build a health care system that reflects the needs of patients and communities, and will keep Ontarians healthy for generations to come.

Controlling illegal drug use through harsh restrictions and tough penalties was as much an issue 80 or 90 years ago as it is today, according to a new book by a University of Guelph history professor.

Written by Catherine Carstairs, Jailed for Possession: Illegal Drug Use, Regulation and Power in Canada, 1920 to 1961 looks at why Canada passed extremely harsh drug laws in the 1920s and what impact those laws had on the lives of users. "It also helps us to understand contemporary drug laws and public perception of drug users," she said, adding that class and race played a significant role in the experience of drug users during this period and that methods for controlling drug use were hotly debated topics.

Although opiates were once widely used in Canada through patent medicines, they were removed from the list of allowed ingredients by the turn of the twentieth century. By the early 1920s, the practice of using opiates for relaxation and pain relief was morally rejected by most white Canadians and drug use was labelled as a Chinese problem, she said.

People also blamed the Chinese for drug smuggling and trafficking, and worried that drugs were causing young women to prostitute themselves, spread venereal disease, and have sex with Asian men, she said. As a result, new laws were passed leading to six-month penalties for possession and deportation.

“This had dramatic effects on drug use and the lives of users,” said Carstairs noting that few doctors wanted users as patients and treatment was almost non-existent.

Diligent police work meant drugs became more expensive and harder to come by. By the 1930s, users spent more and more time travelling around the country in search of a “fix,” resorted to crime more frequently to finance their habit, and developed less detectable, but more dangerous ways to use drugs, including injecting opiates intravenously instead of smoking them, she said. They also became caught in a cycle of imprisonment.

“Although tough sentencing reduced the number of users, it had severely detrimental effects on the health, employment and relationships of those who continued to use.”

Police began to closely monitor doctors to ensure they weren’t prescribing opium to known users, said Carstairs, but doctors who were users themselves were treated far more leniently.

“There are numerous accounts of doctors who prescribed themselves opiates, yet never saw the inside of a jail cell. Their wealth and status allowed their use to go undetected, while at the same time it was very difficult to be a working class user and not come to the attention of the police within a very short time.”

Today, there are far more users and there are more drugs on the market, said Carstairs. International drug trade has also increased and policing it all is far more difficult. But this early period of enforcement shows that the negative outcomes outweigh the positive ones when it comes to harsh drug enforcement. Instead of imprisonment, there is a need for a broader array of treatments, including maintenance programs, she said.

Carstairs will give a talk on "From Opium Dens to Overdoses: The Impact of Harsh Drug Legislation on the Lives of Users" at the Feb. 7 meeting of the Guelph Historical Society. The meeting begins at 7:30 p.m. at St. Andrew's Church.

    TORONTO,- Don Copeman, Founder and President of Copeman
Healthcare Inc., held a media conference today to announce the opening of
three new private clinics in Ontario. The clinics will be located in Ottawa,
Toronto and London, and will open in the summer of 2006. The clinics will
begin accepting pre-registrations immediately through a special toll-free
number or through the organization's web site. The first Copeman Healthcare
Centre opened in Vancouver in the fall of 2005. Joining Mr. Copeman at the
media conference was the Corporate Medical Director of the Copeman Healthcare
Centres, Dr. Peter House.
    "We deliberately chose to announce the opening of these new clinics in
Ontario because Premier McGuinty has shown himself to be someone who embraces
innovation and champions change," said Mr. Copeman. "We believe the Premier,
along with Ministers Smitherman and Watson, will welcome our innovative
approach and make it a part of their transformation agenda."
    Mr. Copeman went on to explain that his motivation for establishing the
Copeman Healthcare Centre was to make a valuable contribution to society
through healthcare innovation, and in particular by demonstrating the long
term benefits of comprehensive, individualized preventive health programs. The
services they offer are perfectly complimentary to publicly funded healthcare.
By combining what Copeman Healthcare Centre offers with the primary care
services provided by the government, patients can receive a 100 per cent
healthcare experience - all under one roof. They also receive their care under
the guidance of a single provider with a single, consolidated medical record.
    "You're likely familiar with the saying: 'If you have your health, you
have everything,'" said Dr. House. "This may be something of a cliché, but the
fact is, truer words have never been spoken. Unfortunately, managing your
health is more difficult than ever in Canada, particularly when it comes to
preventing serious illness or treating urgent or elective medical conditions."
    This is because we live in a time when the cost of delivering optimal
healthcare has outstripped our ability to pay for it within a universal,
publicly funded system, Dr. House explained. The result is long waiting lists
for many important medical services, and almost a complete absence of
comprehensive programs for preventing illness on an individualized basis.
    "It's time for action, not further debate," said Mr. Copeman. "We have
very real solutions that can help Canada avert a crisis in primary care. And
we believe that solving the problems in primary care is the key to the overall
sustainability of our health system. Governments have called out for new and
innovative approaches to our healthcare problems, and we're answering that
call. We have developed ways of shortening specialist wait times and reducing
hospital admissions by applying new models of highly personalized health
management. We sincerely hope that governments will begin listening to what we
have to say. The health of our parents, our children and our loved ones is
just too important."
    The new clinics in Ontario will open in the late summer with patient
enrolments "capped" to ensure the proper standard of care. However, Mr.
Copeman explained, patients who want to ensure themselves a spot can        
pre-register on a first-come, first-served basis by calling a toll-free
information and registration number (1-888-922-2732) or by registering on the
organization's web site (www.copemanhealthcare.com). Mr. Copeman said he
anticipates having clinics up and running in every major city in Canada by the
end of 2007.
    Copeman Healthcare Centres are advanced primary care facilities providing
general family healthcare and comprehensive programs for disease prevention
and management. The organization's mission is to improve the longevity and
quality of its clients' lives by providing unparalleled standards of personal
healthcare. This includes bringing together physician, specialist and allied
health worker expertise under one roof, increasing the amount of physician
time dedicated to each client, and focusing intently on comprehensive
preventive health programs to eliminate or minimize the impact of injury or
illness. To learn more, please call 1-888-922-2732 or visit their web site at
www.copemanhealthcare.com.

    Backgrounder

    - The Copeman Healthcare Centre represents a new direction in Canadian
healthcare delivery. It addresses a growing demand from an increasingly
educated healthcare consumer for more specialized, personalized and timely
health services in the face of an increasingly stressed public healthcare
system. The Centre is a private medical facility that provides general family
care, as well as some of the most advanced disease prevention and management
programs in the world. It follows the "cooperative medicine" approach of the
most respected international healthcare facilities, where teams of
distinguished physicians work together for optimal diagnosis and treatment of
injury and illness.

    - Each physician on staff at the Copeman Healthcare Centre has been
selected based on outstanding academic and clinical records, as well as on
exceptional inter-personal skills. Moreover, each physician has demonstrated a
keen interest in a particular medical field that is relevant to Copeman
Healthcare Centre clients. The specialties that the Centre focuses on include:

    - Cardiology               - Oncology
    - Urology                  - Gynecology
    - Orthopedics              - Sports Injury
    - Neurology                - Pain Management
    - Complementary Medicine

    The Copeman Healthcare Centre invests considerably in each physician's
ongoing education in their specialty area. This includes formal, supplementary
education, surgical assists (where applicable), conference participation,
association membership and on-site library material.

    - Copeman Healthcare Centre clients receive numerous services that are
not covered by the provincial healthcare insurance plan. These services
include such elements as annual health screens, physician-led health education
and coaching, dietary and fitness consultations, computerized health
management and diagnostic reminder services, medical "concierge" services,
research into alternative treatment options, and numerous others. The fee for
these enhanced medical services are bundled by the Centre and paid for by each
client on an annual basis. The basic annual services fee is $2,300 per person.
This may be paid monthly at the rate of $200. For families, all children of
members under the age of 22 receive their enrolment free of charge. The annual
services fee at the Copeman Health Care Centre is reduced each year by 5 per
cent for the first ten years of enrolment. When you decide to join the Copeman
Healthcare Centre, there is also a one-time, non-refundable enrolment fee of
$1200. This covers the costs of consolidating your medical history, developing
your preliminary health plan (based on your history and health screening), and
establishing your initial electronic medical record. For families, the
enrolment fee only applies to members over the age of 22 years. All medically
necessary diagnostic and treatment services are paid for by the government
under the provincial health insurance plan.

    - Copeman Healthcare Centres offer a relaxed, comfortable and modern
environment, complete with in-house diagnostic and screening resources and
educational facilities. The reception area includes a personal entertainment
center, refreshment bar and wireless internet access. The initial 12
facilities in Canada will be centrally and conveniently located near downtown
centres. Additional facilities in each major city will be opened in urban and
suburban areas based on demand. The organization is also planning for twin
30,000 square foot support and research facilities in Vancouver and Toronto,
as well as greatly expanded diagnostic and treatment services that will be
among the most modern in the world. By the end of the first quarter of 2006,
Copeman Healthcare will announce the opening of additional facilities across
Canada. It is anticipated that Centres will be operating in the following
Canadian cities by the end of 2007:

    - Halifax         - Montreal
    - Ottawa          - Toronto
    - London          - Winnipeg
    - Regina          - Saskatoon
    - Edmonton        - Calgary
    - Vancouver       - Victoria


    Frequently Asked Questions

    - Make it simple for me. What am I getting for my annual services fee?

    First, the Copeman Healthcare Centres offer the two most important things
in healthcare: access to expertise; and all of the time you need with your
doctor. All of our physicians have been selected because they have exceptional
skills and expertise in important medical areas - and the organization
generously supports their ongoing education. Additionally, we staff the
Centres with specialists in internal medicine. And because our physicians are
on staff, they give you all of the time that you need. There are no over-
crowded waiting rooms to distract them. Next, the Centre offers you and your
family the most advanced programs for health prevention available in the world
today. This involves comprehensive disease risk assessment, annual screening
for disease and a sophisticated electronic health plan that is constructed for
you by a multi-disciplinary team of experts in medicine, nutrition, fitness
and body function, and mental health. Your health plan is continuously
monitored by the team that is assigned to you. Reminders for tests,
examinations or coaching happen automatically. We are an organization that
cares for you, and we are happy to shift the burden of your healthcare from
your shoulders to ours.

    - Does the Copeman Healthcare Centre violate the Canada Health Act or
      provincial health legislation?

    Absolutely not. The Centre is completely compliant with all Canadian
legislation. Private healthcare has always been allowed in Canada (contrary to
popular belief) and physicians have always been able to bill privately for non-
insured services while also providing publicly funded health services. The
Copeman Healthcare Centre is simply an innovation that consolidates privately-
billed, non-insured services with insured medical care so that clients receive
a 100% health care experience under one roof. They also receive their care
under the guidance of a single provider with a single electronic medical
record. This is simply better healthcare.

    - Why has the Centre received so much national publicity?

    The Copeman Healthcare Centre is a new and innovative concept in a
complex, well-established national health system. It will take a little time
for everyone to fully understand its positive impact on people's health - and
the Canadian Medicare system. We are working very closely with Government and
health organizations in our community so that everyone fully understands the
importance of this new model in helping create a higher quality and more
sustainable healthcare system for all Canadians. Our organization is committed
to assisting the public healthcare system in any way we can, and for helping
create an environment that will once again attract young adults into the
Family Physician profession so that we can avoid the impending crisis in
primary healthcare.

    - Is the Copeman Healthcare Centre a hospital?

    The dictionary definition of a Hospital is, "an institution where the
sick or injured are given medical or surgical care". From this perspective,
both the initial and future Copeman Healthcare Centre facilities are indeed
hospitals. However, the definition of a hospital by most provincial
governments is more unclear. Certainly, the expanded facilities that are
envisioned for many cities within Canada would be considered hospitals by most
definitions. The first phase of the Copeman Healthcare Centre also meets most
definitions of a hospital, but the advanced laboratory services and diagnostic
imaging are not on-site - clients are directed to an affiliate in close
proximity. In neither case will the Centre provide emergency services or     
in-patient beds for medical illness.

    - Do I have to pay for services when I'm at the Centre and then apply for
      reimbursement?

    No. You will see no difference between going to the Copeman Healthcare
Centre and visiting your family doctor. All medically necessary diagnostics
and treatments will be paid for directly by the government. The private fee
component of the Copeman Healthcare Centre (i.e. for those preventive
healthcare and other enhanced services that are not insured by provincial
plans) is completely covered by your annual membership fee.

    - Can I receive reimbursement for the fees I pay to the Copeman
      Healthcare Centre?

    Any fees paid to the Copeman Healthcare Centre for services not covered
directly by the provincial health insurance plan will not be reimbursed by the
Government, simply because they are not insured services. However, the fees
are generally tax deductible. You can also talk to your Copeman Healthcare
Centre Client Care Specialist about setting up a family health trust, which
can provide further tax benefits.

    - Will membership in the Copeman Healthcare Centre allow me to shorten my
      waiting times for specialist referral, surgery or other treatments?

    The Copeman Healthcare Centre introduces a brand new model of primary
care that may eliminate the need for specialist referral in many cases. This
is achieved through the use of "expert" general practitioners in a number of
key medical fields, combined with more in-house diagnostic resources, and
sophisticated computer technologies. And because the Centre will have on-staff
internal medicine specialists, many referrals may happen within the facility
with very little delay. Additionally, what the Copeman Healthcare Centre
offers is the presentation of treatment options. You will be informed about
private treatment options within the community, as well as faster         
extra-provincial treatment opportunities, including those in the U.S. and
other countries. The physicians and staff of the Copeman Healthcare Centre
will guide you every step of the way, offering clarity on the ramifications of
waiting for your treatment. In most cases they will be aware of the costs
associated with using private options. But to be clear, most private options
will be paid directly by you and will not be reimbursable by the government in
most cases.

    - Can I choose my personal physician?

    One of the great benefits of the Copeman Healthcare Centre's approach to
healthcare is that your personal physician is matched with your particular
profile based on their specialized knowledge and experience. And you will find
every physician at the Copeman Healthcare Centre to be relaxed, personable and
professional. However, if you are not completely comfortable with the personal
physician that is assigned to you, the Centre will certainly offer you a
different physician. This is handled discreetly and professionally.

Flo Healthcare offers the industry's most complete suite of workstations

-- from general purpose and medication management workstations, to integrated vitals capture/monitoring and critical care, providing real time access to electronic medical records while freeing up clinician workers to care for their patients. In use at more than 800 hospitals, the Flo Healthcare wireless mobile workstation lineup is the industry standard for ergonomics, aesthetics, functionality and ease-of-use on an integrated platform.

"Hospitals have many different requirements and applications for wireless-enabled point of care solutions," said Keith Washington, vice president of business development at Flo Healthcare. "Wireless mobile workstations are used for medication delivery, critical care, vitals management, videoconferencing application and much more. Flo Healthcare not only brings the most complete lineup of solutions to hospitals, but offers the highest level of innovation and integration."

Flo Healthcare solutions are unique in providing a ready-to-use solution right out of the box, using the wireless components and personal computer standards of the specific hospital. Hospital administrators are assured of a working solution that can be deployed immediately with greater reliability and lower total cost of ownership. The complete suite currently includes the following:

-- Flo 1750. The most widely-deployed, integrated wireless mobile

workstation available, the Flo 1750 is a general purpose

workstation used by clinicians to bring them closer to the

patient, by enabling them to access the hospital information

systems while at the bedside. The Flo 1750 brings a tremendous

number of innovations to the marketplace including greater

battery life, special ergonomic features such as the tilting

keyboard, and flexible accessories including cabinets to safely

and securely lock medications.

-- Flo 2400. The Flo 2400 series provides mobile medication

workstations for accurate and efficient dispensing of medication.

FDA mandated bar-coding, improving patient safety and reducing

medication errors are major reasons customers choose the Flo 2400.

-- Flo 3000. The Flo 3000 is an advanced wireless mobile

workstation specifically designed for use in high acuity and

critical care areas of the hospital. Its sophisticated design

marries real-time wireless access with a clean, stable platform

that can integrate a range of diagnostic and critical care

technologies and applications. The Flo 3000 has also been

integrated with leading video-teleconferencing equipment for

tele-health initiatives.

-- Flo 4000 Vitals Cart. Scheduled for introduction at HIMSS 2006.

"Hospitals are not in the business of assembling multiple components to build IT systems; rather, they are in the business of providing patient care," said Tom Denmark, president and CEO of Flo Healthcare. "Flo Healthcare has successfully united clinical information, storage, mobile computing, security and medical devices with a full lineup of mobile workstations in a way that optimizes clinicians' workflow. The result drives huge improvements in productivity and the quality of patient care, both critical success factors to today's healthcare providers."

Although each of the Flo Healthcare products was built for a specific application set within today's hospital environment, they all enable IT professionals to provide complete mobile clinical solutions that allow caregivers to spend more quality time with patients while decreasing the amount of time spent entering data. This improved connection improves care.

Demonstration of Flo Healthcare's integrated lineup of wireless mobile workstations at HIMSS will be held during expo hall hours in the company's booth No. 1801. To schedule a personal demo, healthcare professionals should call 877-FLO-4040 and ask to be connected to the Sales Support desk.

A flurry of new reports of avian influenza in humans and animals emerged Sunday from various parts of Turkey, and international health officials said they had come to believe that the disease had been simmering in the eastern part of the country for months, even though it was reported there only in late December, The New York Times (01/08) and The International Herald Tribune (01/09) report.

A team of experts, including representatives of the World Health Organization (WHO), accompanied by the Turkish health minister, was scrambling to determine the full extent of the outbreaks. Turkish officials announced Sunday that tests had confirmed five new cases of H5N1, two more in Van and three around Ankara, according to Turan Buzgan, the Health Ministry's basic sciences director. The Ankara cases have the most alarming implications because bird flu had not been previously reported in that part of the country, and it is a relatively well-off area, where it is not the norm for humans and animals to live under one roof. The infected boys had contact with dead wild ducks, and the man with a dead chicken, said a ministry spokesman. In addition to the confirmed cases, some 50 other people suspected of having the disease have been hospitalized, at least 30 in the Van area and about 20 in Ankara, a Health Ministry spokesman said.

Reuters (01/09) adds that Turkey's Health Minister Recep Akdag said on Monday a total of 14 people across the country have tested positive for bird flu, including three children already dead. The WHO has so far confirmed four cases in Turkey, including two of the deaths. The WHO said other cases had not so far been verified by laboratory tests.

The Washington Post (01/09) notes that some of these cases have appeared in family clusters, raising concern that the disease might have begun spreading more easily among people. But international health experts said they find it more likely that the human cases in Turkey were caused by contact with infected birds, when children were playing with slaughtered chickens or crawling into henhouses, for example. Influenza experts have said they suspect that in Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam, the virus has already demonstrated the ability to be transmitted among humans. In each of these instances, however, the disease only infected members of an immediate family and did not spread further. That would indicate that the ability of the virus to spread among people remains limited.

The Associated Press (01/09) writes that a WHO team is helping Turkish authorities assess the more than 60 people hospitalized with flu-like symptoms after coming in contact with poultry. The UN health agency says it is very concerned about the unusually high number of suspected cases and is looking at three key questions. First, how to define a suspected case as it is unclear what criteria Turkish medical authorities are using to classify suspected cases. Secondly, investigators want to determine if the virus is spreading between people. And lastly, they are searching a behavioral explanation. Unlike in the parts of Asia where the virus has hit hardest, Turkish poultry farmers tend to bring their birds into homes when the weather gets cold, the WHO says. That may dramatically increase the risk of human infections due to exposure to bird feces, and may explain the increased ability of the virus to move.

In related news, Agence France Presse (01/09) reports that Malaysia unveiled Monday a series of measures to tackle the spread and effect of the deadly bird flu virus that has killed more than 70 people in China and Southeast Asia since late 2003. Launching the National Influenza Pandemic Preparedness Plan, Health Minister Chua Soi Lek told diplomats in Kuala Lumpur that hospitals would be upgraded and stockpiles of vaccines for poultry and antiviral drugs to treat the virus would be increased. The number of hospitals able to treat avian flu victims would be increased, said Chua who had previously said that the proposals would include a new six-tier alert and quarantine system. While Chua stressed the importance of preparedness, he also called for calm, saying the virus had yet to show it could be transmitted easily between humans.

Dow Jones (01/09) notes that Italy's Health Minister summoned experts to discuss the threat of bird flu Monday, amid fears that the virus could spread west from Turkey. The Health Ministry said Francesco Storace was to consult with veterinary officials, virologists and other experts later Monday in a closed-door meeting. In an interview with newspaper La Repubblica (Italy), Storace suggested new measures might be needed following the confirmation of deaths from H5N1 virus strain in Turkey. He warned that any measures taken by Italy to stop bird flu spreading could only be fully effective if they were also taken by neighboring countries.

Dow Jones (01/09) further writes that the European Commission Monday banned the import of untreated feathers from six countries near Turkey: Iran, Iraq, Syria, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia. The move will be formally approved Tuesday after being agreed by the EU's 25 members at a meeting of the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health. Under European Union guidelines 25,000 birds in the EU have tested negative for H5N1 since October, said EU spokesman Michael Mann.

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday called on European countries to step up their vigilance against bird flu after Turkey announced that two teens from the same family died from the disease, reports Agence France Presse.

"The situation is worrying because it shows that the virus still exists and is spreading," Doctor Guenael Rodier of the WHO's regional European bureau in Copenhagen told AFP. The deaths are the first known human fatalities from the disease outside of Southeast Asia and China, where it has killed more than 70 people since late 2003, nearly 40 of them in 2005 alone. "That's why all European countries need to increase their vigilance and continue to scrupulously follow the WHO's recommendations and prepare for a possible pandemic," Rodier, a special advisor on communicable diseases, said. The WHO has advised travelers to avoid contact with live animal markets and poultry farms, and called for monitoring of poultry farms and domestic birds.

A WHO team traveled to Turkey on Thursday to discuss the issue with Turkish authorities, Rodier said. Rodier said he was concerned about "the geographic spread of the problem, even though the home in eastern Turkey was not in the heart of Europe." Rodier said veterinarians had an important role to play "because the best way to prevent (the disease) is to make sure there are no more infected birds." "The chances of a pandemic erupting in Europe are likely to increase rather than decrease. The more cases of infected people there are, the more likely the virus will mutate to a human illness, and then it will be difficult to stop," he said. "Draconian controls are needed," he said, calling also for inspections of poultry yards located on birds' migration routes.

The two teenagers were from the town of Dogubeyazit, near Turkey's borders with Iran and Armenia. The family of the victims lived in the same household with infected chickens, which they then consumed, according to Turkish officials. Twelve other people, including two members of the Kocyigit family, were being treated Thursday for bird-flu like symptoms, a senior Turkish health ministry official, Turan Buzgan, told the Turkish NTV News channel. The WHO will carry out tests at a London laboratory to confirm the Turkish results.

Agence France Presse further notes Turkey said Friday a third child from the same family had now died of bird flu, as the government came under fire for failing to prevent the spread of the deadly disease. In related news, Reuters writes that Turkey's eastern neighbor Azerbaijan is to conduct tests to establish if bird flu caused the deaths of poultry in the south of the country, officials said on Friday. Dead birds were taken for laboratory tests in the capital Baku from the Massaly region after about 200 birds died in two villages, said a spokeswoman for the Ecology Ministry. She said the results should be known on Saturday.

The Associated Press meanwhile reports that Indonesia plans to spend close to $950 million to fight bird flu over the next two years, and some of the money will go toward establishing surveillance stations at villages across the country, the welfare minister said Friday. Indonesia is also planning a two-year pilot scheme involving vaccinating both humans and poultry in a region just north of the capital Jakarta that was home to the first of the country's 11 human fatalities, said welfare minister, Aburizal Bakrie.

Xinhua (China) writes that Dazhu County, the latest bird flu outbreak site in southwest China's Sichuan Province, has been taking strict measures to prevent the epidemic from spreading. Poultry in the affected areas have been culled and the local government has been providing medical observation for the people in close contact with the affected poultry. Disinfecting stations were set up at all roads leading into and outside of the county. Meanwhile, the county has shut down all its 54 live poultry markets amid various efforts to prevent the epidemic from spreading.

Reuters notes that Mexican authorities killed some 300 birds after detecting low pathogenic bird flu on homesteads in the southern state of Chiapas last month, the state government said on Thursday. A government spokeswoman who asked not to be named said no other cases of the disease had been detected in the state, which shares a border with Guatemala.

The Washington Post finally writes that seeking to reassure people that chicken is safe to eat, companies that raise chickens said yesterday that they will test every flock for bird flu before the birds are slaughtered. Companies that account for more than 90 percent of the nearly 10 billion chickens produced in the US in 2005 have signed up for the program and more are expected to join, according to the National Chicken Council, a trade group.

"Our government recognizes that patients can only receive high quality care if hospital facilities are safe and in good repair," Smitherman said. "This investment will help every public hospital in the province keep pace with needed upgrades so they can offer the very best care to Ontarians."

A total of $60 million in capital funding will be provided to all Ontario hospitals for critical or highest priority projects including:

- Work needed to address requirements under the Ontario Building Code and Ontario Fire Code such as upgrading fire-alarm systems
- Upgrading heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems
- Structural repairs including roof replacement and windows, and
- Improvements to comply with health and safety standards, such as upgrading back-up generators.

Funding is being provided through the government's Health Infrastructure Renewal Fund, which allows hospitals to decide where to invest the money and lets them proceed quickly with projects. This fiscal year, the government has improved the distribution funding formula to provide an increased minimum grant of $150,000 per site for all hospitals. In addition, three new mental health facilities have been added to the list of hospitals receiving funding: the Northeast Mental Health Centre, the Royal Ottawa Health Care Group, and the Guelph Homewood Health Centre.

"Investments in hospital upgrades and repairs are really investments in modern patient care services," said Hilary Short, President and CEO of the Ontario Hospital Association. "We welcome today's announcement, and we look forward to further investments like these in the months and years ahead."
"Our government is strengthening all areas of our hospitals so that they can better serve patients," Smitherman said. "We're continually striving to improve infrastructure planning to determine the most economical and efficient way to improve hospital facilities and long-term investments."

Under the province's ReNew Ontario investment infrastructure plan announced in May, the McGuinty government and its partners will invest $5 billion over the next five years to improve health care facilities.

This initiative is part of the McGuinty government's plan to build a health care system that delivers on three priorities - keeping Ontarians healthy, reducing wait times and providing better access to doctors and nurses.

The investment in Kitchener-Waterloo hospitals is as follows:

Hospital 2005/06 HIRF Grant

Grand River Hospital Corporation $466,751
St. Mary's General Hospital $233,974

Total $700,725

A total of $60 million in capital funding will be invested in Ontario hospitals for projects including:

• Work needed to address requirements under the Ontario Building Code and Ontario Fire Code such as upgrading fire-alarm systems.

• Upgrading heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems (HVAC).

• Structural repairs including roof replacement and windows; and

• Improvements to comply with health and safety standards, such as upgrading back-up generators.

Funding is being provided through the government’s Health Infrastructure Renewal Fund (HIRF), which allows hospitals to decide where to invest the money and lets them proceed quickly with projects. This fiscal year, the government has improved the HIRF distribution funding formula to provide an increased minimum grant of $150,000 per site for all hospitals. In addition, three new psychiatric facilities have been added to the list of hospitals receiving funding, the Northeast Mental Health Centre, the Royal Ottawa Health Care Group and the Guelph Homewood Health Centre.

“Our government is strengthening all areas of our hospitals so that they can better serve patients,” Smitherman said. “We’re continually striving to improve infrastructure planning to determine the most economical and efficient way to improve hospital facilities and long-term investments.”

Under the province’s ReNew Ontario investment infrastructure plan announced in May, the McGuinty Government and its partners will invest at least $5 billion over the next five years to improve health care facilities.

These initiatives are part of the McGuinty government’s plan to build a health care system that delivers on three priorities—keeping Ontarians healthy, reducing wait times and providing better access to doctors and nurses.

BACKGROUNDER

The McGuinty government is allocating $60 million in 2005 to the province’s hospitals so that they can continue with needed upgrades to keep their facilities in top condition for patients.  In Kitchener-Waterloo, 2 hospitals will receive a total of $700,725.  Listed below is a breakdown of the funding:

·        making facilities safer for patients and health care workers by installing new fire alarms, building automation and fire sprinkler systems. 

·        improving air quality to provide cleaner, fresher air in hospital rooms;

·        replacing windows to provide better insulation resulting in lower heating and cooling costs.

Under the province’s ReNew Ontario investment infrastructure plan announced in May, the McGuinty Government and its partners will invest $5 billion over the next five years to improve health care facilities.

Provincial Investment Will Reduce Wait Times, Improve Access For Area Residents

SARNIA - Residents of the Sarnia-Lambton area will have improved access to health care thanks to a major provincial government investment in the expansion and renovation of a consolidated community hospital at Bluewater Health's Norman site in Sarnia.

Sarnia-Lambton MPP Caroline Di Cocco made the announcement today, along with Minister of Public Infrastructure Renewal David Caplan.

"The new government investment will give Sarnia residents better access to a full range of hospital services at a single site on Norman Street," said Di Cocco. "This important project has been on a lot of people's minds for quite some time, and thanks to the hard work of many dedicated individuals, our community will greatly benefit from this enhanced facility."

The redeveloped community hospital will consolidate such services as ambulatory care, complex continuing care, acute mental health programs, a maternal program, the expansion of a dialysis unit, a larger emergency facility and eight redeveloped operating rooms. The facility will have capacity of up to 267 acute care beds and 70 complex continuing care beds.

Construction work on the facility is expected to begin in 2006/07. "The McGuinty government is re-building Ontario's public infrastructure, and the project is an essential part of our plan to modernize hospitals, reduce wait times and upgrade medical equipment in this area and throughout the province," Caplan said. "Our infrastructure investments are helping us build a stronger, healthier and more prosperous province."

"This project will ensure people in the local community have access to the modern, effective health care they need and deserve," said George Smitherman, Minister of Health and Long-Term Care.

The Government of Ontario has approved the Bluewater Health initiative as an alternative financing and procurement project. This means the construction work will be financed and carried out by the private sector, which will assume the financial risks for ensuring that the project is finished on time and on budget. The completed facility will be publicly owned, publicly controlled and publicly accountable.

"Today's announcement brings us one step closer to building a health care facility that our patients, staff, physicians and community deserve and need," said Katherine Scimmi, chair, Bluewater Health Board. "I want to thank our community for their continued support and commitment to this vitally important project."

"Everyone who participated in the shaping of this new facility, and insisted on this vision of quality health care for our community is to be commended," said David Vigar, president/CEO, Bluewater Health. "Their vision will provide Sarnia-Lambton a health care legacy from which we will benefit for decades to come."

"The ReNew Ontario plan will make it possible for many hospitals to undertake much-needed capital improvements to facilities that, across Ontario, average 43 years old," said Hilary Short, president and CEO of the Ontario Hospital Association. "Innovative financing models allow hospitals to harness private sector capital and expertise and move forward quickly with projects that will benefit patients and their communities."

Under the province's ReNew Ontario infrastructure investment plan, the McGuinty government and its partners are investing $5 billion over the next five years to improve Ontario's health care facilities.

CAMBRIDGE - Practice Solutions Software Inc., a Canadian Medical Association (CMA) company, announced today that its electronic medical records, billing and scheduling software has been approved for physician funding by Alberta's Physician Office System Program (POSP) - a joint initiative of the Alberta Medical Association, Alberta Health and Wellness and Alberta's Regional Health Authorities. This approval recognizes that the software's applications conform to the POSP's Vendor Conformance and Usability Requirements.

POSP provides financial assistance to qualified Alberta physicians to enable them to access the technology and support needed to utilize electronic medical records.

Practice Solutions Software began offering its software in Alberta on a trial basis in 2005 with province-wide availability in early 2006. The company has established an office in Calgary, and plans to open a second location in Edmonton. Acquired by the CMA in 2004, Practice Solutions Software was founded in 1982 as HealthCare Software. It delivers software to more than 2,300 doctors at 750 medical clinics across Ontario. Approximately 1,000,000 patient records are managed by Practice Solutions electronic medical records software.

"This marks a significant step forward in our vision to provide all physicians in Canada with our highly valued and trusted software, with the overarching goal of improving healthcare in Canada," said Practice Solutions Software President Rob Thorpe. "This certification means that Alberta doctors can access funding to help them invest in a made-in-Canada software solution.

In addition to our software, which integrates seamlessly with individual approaches to clinical management, physicians may also tap into the full range of services from Practice Solutions, including web services, tenant leasing and practice management consulting."

Since 1996, the companies operating under the Practice Solutions brand have helped thousands of physicians enhance their practices through proven and easy-to-implement solutions. Its ownership by the CMA ensures a focus on enhancing the value provided to CMA members, rather than on maximizing profits.

The national survey was conducted by HCD Research during December 3-4, to obtain the views of pharmacists in response to recent media reports that four pharmacists were suspended by the Walgreen Co. in Illinois for refusing to fill emergency contraception prescriptions.

Among the findings:

69% of the pharmacists indicated that pharmacists should have the authority to refuse filling prescriptions for emergency contraception such as the morning after pill.

While 39% of pharmacists indicated that state laws should not require them to fill certain prescriptions, a significantly smaller percentage of pharmacists (23%) believe that the patient's rights should prevail if a legal drug is prescribed by a doctor.

37% of pharmacists feel that although they should have the right to refuse, they should also be required to refer patients to another pharmacist who will fill the prescription.

63% of pharmacists do not think that Walgreen should have put the four pharmacists on unpaid leave for refusing to fill the emergency contraception prescriptions, and only 29% felt that Walgreen was justified in its action.

"While a vast majority of pharmacists believe that they should have the authority to refuse filling prescriptions for the morning after pill, they are split regarding whether they should be required to refer consumers to a pharmacist who will fill the prescription," commented Glenn Kessler, co-founder and managing partner, HCD Research.

"In a physicians' poll that we conducted in July, an overwhelming majority of physicians supported the requirement that pharmacists fill prescriptions for the morning after pill," continued Kessler. "In that poll, we did not give them the option of indicating whether it was acceptable for pharmacists to choose not to fill the prescription and refer the patient to another pharmacist. However, with 79% of physicians indicating that pharmacists should be required to fill the prescription, it is clear that there is a very strong consensus."

To view detailed regional results for the pharmacists' poll, please go to: http://publish.hcdhealth.com/C0007_region/