Bryan ThomasColleen Flood March 29, 2016 

The trouble is that bacteria and other pathogens are constantly evolving into ‘superbugs,’ capable of resisting our current cache of antimicrobials, which include antibiotics like penicillin as well as antifungals, antiparasitics and antivirals.  The WHO warns that “a post-antibiotic era — in which common infections and minor injuries can kill — is a very real possibility for the 21st century.”

Since 2014, B.C. has lost half billion dollars in federal health care transfers March 31, 2016

The Hospital Employees Union (HEU) is calling on the federal Liberal government to honour its 2015 election commitments to bring back a national Health Accord in partnership with British Columbia and the other provinces.

Why we need to ban paid plasma blood donations. Our story. Our Blood.

The Petition is open for signature until May 17, 2016

Petition to the Government of Canada Whereas: Over 30,000 Canadians were infected with HIV and Hepatitis C via tainted blood in Canada, resulting in the deaths of thousands of Canadians and harming countless families; Canada spent $17 million dollars on a publicly-funded federal inquiry which revealed that the paid-donor system was a key factor contributing to Canadians receiving tainted blood; Billions of dollars in compensation have been given to those who received tainted blood and their families due, in part, to Canada's former reliance on blood from paid donors; The Krever Inquiry recommended an end to a private, for-profit blood donor system in Canada, citing these five basic principles regarding how the blood system should be governed: 1. Blood is a public resource; 2. Donors should not be paid; 3. Sufficient blood should be collected so that importation from other countries is unnecessary; 4. Access to blood and blood products should be free and universal; and 5. Safety of the blood supply system is paramount; Our blood plasma is not meant to be a commodity that is bought and sold, we must protect our voluntary blood system in Canada and ensure we have one national operator, the Canadian Blood Services, to oversee blood collection and plasma collection in our country.

By RYAN MEILI

Wednesday, March 30, 2016

Extra billing in Ontario, private MRIs in Saskatchewan and user fees in Quebec: violations of the Canada Health Act are on the rise across the country. Canadian doctors are concerned about the impact of this trend not only on their patients, but on our public health care system as well.

March 8, 2016 – March 11, 2016

Following the success of the Time to Care campaign training retreat in 2015, CUPE Ontario is pleased to offer a similar member training this coming March (2016). The training is focused on how to plan, organize and carryout Time to Care related activities in your local community. Like the session last year, the 2016 mobilization training is intended for CUPE locals (and members) able to commit to work on the campaign, share and build organizing skills among members, and join in coordinated provincial actions throughout the year to achieve a 4 hour legislated care standard for long-term care residents

Mar 21, 2016

There’s new interest in an old idea: a basic income guarantee (BIG), also known as a guaranteed minimum income (GMI) or a universal basic income (UBI). 

Mar 31, 2016

March 31 marks the second anniversary of the expiry of the federal-provincial Health Accord. CUPE joins the Canadian Health Coalition in calling on the new federal government to enforce the Canada Health Act and to adopt a new Health Accord.

Thursday May 12 2016 • InterContinental Toronto Centre • Toronto, ON

May 12, 2016—Future Care for Canadian Seniors

Understanding the pressure points from the aging of baby boomers

By Anthony Torres

1 April 2016

Masses of workers and youth, 1.2 million according to union sources and 390,000 according to police, protested Thursday across France against the labour law reform of Labour Minister Myriam El Khomri. Defying the anti-democratic state of emergency imposed by President François Hollande and a large deployment of heavily armed riot police, high school and university students and growing layers of workers are demonstrating against the Socialist Party’s (PS) austerity policies.

April 1, 2016

John Clarke

April 13, 2016

The CUPE Ontario — CACO 2016 MPP paramedic lobby day at Queen’s Park is scheduled for Wednesday, April 13. We encourage participation from across the province. We’re optimistic that your local will be sending representatives/paramedics and joining us for the lobby that includes meetings with MPPs and an MPP-paramedics’ breakfast on April 13. There is also a special training session happening at the Sheraton Hotel downtown Toronto on the evening of April 12 from 19:00 (7 p.m.) to 22:00 (10 p.m.).

March 24, 2016

There will be no super hospital to replace the Victoria General Hospital in Halifax, Premier Stephen McNeil said Thursday. Speaking with reporters following a cabinet meeting, McNeil said the province is considering an approach that would use the province’s existing healthcare facilities in conjunction with new structures to meet the health needs of Nova Scotians for decades to come.

Province has asked departments to identify ways to reduce spending by 30 per cent — that's $900M from health

Mar 24, 2016

While Newfoundland and Labrador doctors say reducing departmental spending would dramatically harm the quality of health care services in the province, the physicians' association has recommendations on how to save millions and improve patient care.  Those recommendations include greater centralization of services in fewer facilities, reducing unnecessary medical testing and expanding the use of technology like telemedicine to give patients access to specialists without travel.

Suicides increase 30 per cent in Alberta in the first six months of 2015

As part of changes, following an increase in suicides in 2015, crisis teams can now respond in person when someone calls for help.

Wed Mar 30 2016

March 29, 2016

For Andrew Cumming, news that B.C. may someday be home to a pay-for-plasma clinic brought back painful memories of friends and associates whose lives were also turned upside down by Canada’s tainted-blood scandal in the 1980s.

Cumming, 56, a Toronto-based investment professional, contracted HIV and hepatitis C from a transfusion, and spent decades in clinics and camps growing close to a cohort of 100 hemophiliacs who were also infected.“They’re all dead,” he said. “I lost the last one in 2012.”

March 28, 2016

Amid ongoing controversy over the fees pharmaceutical companies pay doctors, 10 Canadian-based firms have agreed to divulge how much cash they hand over to physicians and health organizations every year. They say the voluntary program should make the financial ties between pharma and medicine more visible – and help “neutralize” charges of conflict of interest.

CMAJ April 5, 2016 vol. 188 no. 6 First published March 7, 2016, doi: 10.1503/cmaj.109-5240

Zoe Chong

Alberta plans to change how doctors are paid in a bid to curb spiraling costs and improve quality of care.