Yesterday’s announced Liberal policies for catastrophic drug coverage for the seriously ill and to help hire more doctors and nurses serve to further sharpen the contrast between Conservatives and Liberals. Stephen Harper promised wait times guarantees in 5 areas and he completely broke that promise. I’m sure he’ll be promising even less this campaign and likely wouldn’t even meet whatever standard he set. The man has no credibility on the economy or health care. Protecting the most vulnerable in society is just not a priority for him.
Liberals can be trusted to protect and improve our health care system and manage the country’s finances properly. We are the ones who brought in the 10 year health care accords and who repaired our economy. While the economy looms larger in this election, health care remains in the top 3 issues for most Canadians so I hope Dion re-visit the health care issue again later in this campaign and highlights these policies again. For those who thought the Liberals wouldn’t have a solid platform ready to go for this campaign, I think they’ve been proven wrong.
I’m looking forward to seeing what the Liberals will be offering on Day 11....
UPDATE: I was not disappointed. Very impressive announcements on education today. Strong child care plan too! Great day for Liberal policy! More later….
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1 comments:
While I appreciated the announcement of the catastrophic drug plan, I'm tired of the meme "healthcare" which is code for the medical and acute care industry.
WHY do parties and politicians insist on maintaining the fiction that health is equivalent to care-after-the-fact? Worse, that sickness prevention requires only the targeting of individual behaviour, such as addiction and eating and exercise habits?
There is a consistent message coming from public health professionals, including the World Health Organization and our own government's Chief Public Health Officer, Dr. David Butler-Jones (whose report was quietly tucked away by the Harper government). It is that social conditions crucially matter.
Investing more and more money on doctors, nurses, hospital beds, trauma care ... is wrong-headed. We need fewer SICK PEOPLE, fewer people made vulnerable to illness.
Poverty causes stress. Stress is a proven primary underlying cause of heart disease, diabetes, and other major and chronic illnesses.
Given these facts, which have been known for decades by researchers of the social determinants of health, it's clear that poverty is the #1 killer and our largest health threat.
People need less stress in their lives. With less stress, we'll be healthier. With fewer stressed people, Canada's acute care system can undergo its own recovery.
Whether members of the medical and drug industries would be happy with fewer sick people is another matter.
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