Using data quantifying Canadian prescription drug use and spending, researchers believe that Canada could save up to $9.4 billion a year by switching to a universal pharmacare program. The researchers analysed prescription drug data from the 2012-2013 fiscal year and determined that if Canada were to switch to a universal program, the economic savings would […]
Tag: Canada
Incidental findings: What would you want to know?
With next-generation individual genome sequencing for medical reasons comes the ethical issue of uncovering incidental findings about one’s health. Would you like your physician to tell you that you are at risk for Alzheimer’s disease? Responding to an online questionnaire, 1200 Canadians answered that they generally would agree to receive information about high-risk disease disorders […]
A solution to the medical isotope shortage?
Radioactive isotopes are used regularly for diagnostic and cancer treatments, but as aging nuclear research reactors are shut down, new ways to create the technetium 99m necessary for medical scans are being investigated. A team of scientists has now confirmed that regular hospital based cyclotrons are able to produce enough technetium-99m, to satisfy the daily […]
Hospital deaths dropping in Canada
Hospital deaths continue to decrease across Canada, new data shows. Nearly 60 per cent (47 out of 83) of hospitals in Canada achieved a decrease in hospital deaths over the last five years. Hospitals have made strides in reducing mortality related to heart attack (down 19 per cent), sepsis (down ten per cent) and heart failure (down five […]
Resolving a mastodon mystery in the Yukon
A re-examination of mastodon fossils from Alaska and the Yukon indicates that they are much older than previously thought. Previous studies dated the fossils to the last ice age, about 18,000 years ago. However, at that time the area was largely grassland, and mastodons were forest-dwelling animals. The new study used modern radiocarbon dating methods […]
Towards carbon neutral wheat production
Improved practices in the farming of wheat could lead to a significant reduction in its carbon footprint according to a new study. With the changes suggested by the researchers, the carbon footprint of wheat could potentially be lowered to the extent that it removes more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than is emitted during production. The […]
How ZMapp fights Ebola
A new study highlights the biochemical mechanisms behind ZMapp, a promising experimental treatment against Ebola virus infection developed with the involvement of the Public Health Agency of Canada. Using single-particle electron microscopy, researchers determined the structures of each monoclonal antibody in the Zmapp cocktail and how each one binds to vulnerable sites on the Ebola […]
Key bird habitats under siege
Over 350 of the world’s Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBAs) are under threat, according to a new report. In 2012 protection was suspended in the Bay of Panama wetlands, one of the most important sites for migratory waterbirds in the Americas. Closer to home, British Columbia’s Boundary Bay – Roberts Bank – Sturgeon Bank […]
To visit ED, or not to visit ED?
One in five patients who are discharged from hospital emergency departments (ED) without being admitted could just as easily have gotten the treatment they need at a family practice, according to a new report. Data compiled by the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) helps determine which emergency room visits are avoidable and could help […]
How to reduce damage from unregulated fisheries
Canadians are used to the idea that governments regulate fisheries, but around the world more than 100 million people – 90 per cent of the worlds’ fishers – operate in small-scale fisheries with no records or controls. In a Policy Forum article, the authors recommend methods to reduce the damage that illegal, unregulated and unreported […]
SMCC in the news
The Agenda with Steve Paikin, a current affairs television program on TVO, recently featured a panel of experts to discuss the importance of science literacy in Canada. The Science Media Centre of Canada’s Executive Director, Penny Park, was included in the panel. The Agenda has additionally created an online quiz (available here) for viewers to test how scientifically […]
South Asians in Canada have higher risk of heart disease
Canadians of South Asian background are more at risk of heart disease and diabetes than white Canadians, a new review of literature reports. However, they are less likely to smoke and are less obese. More than one million Canadians whose ethnicity hails from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh live in Canada, comprising about […]
22 new strategies for improving child/maternal health in the developing world
Federally-funded Grand Challenges Canada announced seed funding Sept. 22 for 22 projects submitted by innovators worldwide and designed to improve child and maternal health in the developing world. Examples include: A snack produced from rice bran waste in the Philippines to combat child iron deficiency; A technique for safely storing vaccines at room temperature by […]
Climate change: cropland could expand in Canada
A new simulation of the impact of climate change on the supply of agricultural land shows that suitable cropland will expand in Canada, Russia, China and other countries in the high latitudes of the Northern hemisphere. On the other hand the authors project a significant loss of highly fertile cropland in the Mediterranean regions and […]
Canadian researcher wins Ig Nobel prize for explaining “Jesus toast”
Kang Lee, a professor at the University of Toronto’s Dr. Eric Jackman Institute of Child Study, has won an Ig Nobel prize for explaining why people have a tendency to see faces in ordinary objects, such as the face of Jesus in toast. In a paper published earlier this year, Lee’s team showed that the […]
Physicians in Canada 2013
How many doctors are currently practising in Canada and how much are they getting paid? How many of them received their medical training outside of Canada? Are more women entering the physician workforce? A new CIHI report, available upon request, tackles these questions. Original report published by the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) on September 9, 2014.
