Tag Archives: Pharmacare

Rachel Blaney will not seek reelection in 2025

After close to a decade as the Member of Parliament for North Island-Powell River, Rachel Blaney announced that she will not run in the next Federal Election.

“It was a very hard decision to make but, sadly, I have family issues that have come to the forefront. I recognize that time is precious and this is a long commute back and forth, so I’m happy to be able to continue until 2025 and stay till the next election . Going past that would have meant missing precious time with someone I love greatly, so I had to make a very hard and bittersweet decision,” she explained.

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Curing the Most Deadly Communicable Disease on the Planet

Editor’s note: A health warning for our area as well the urban centres mentioned.

By Michelle Gamage, The Tyee, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The hepatitis C Virus kills more people than most other communicable diseases, including AIDS and tuberculosis, says Dr.  Brian Conway, medical director of the Vancouver Infectious Diseases  Centre. Conway was recently named an Elimination Champion for his work fighting the disease.

This excludes COVID-19 which, as a generational pandemic gets measured differently by infectious disease experts, Conway adds. 

HCV killed 290,000 people globally in 2019 according to the World Health Organization, including 1,162 Canadians. 

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NDP-Liberal agreement prompted increased lobbying efforts from Big Pharma

By Natasha Bulowski, Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Big Pharma has stepped up its lobbying game ever since the federal NDP struck a deal to prop up the Liberals’ minority government contingent on several big-ticket items — including progress on national pharmacare.

Announced last March, the Liberal-NDP agreement hinges on the federal government launching a dental care program for low-income Canadians and “continuing progress towards a universal national pharmacare program by passing a Canada Pharmacare Act by the end of 2023.”

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Rachel Blaney on her re-election and the NDP

NDP candidate Rachel Blaney said she is honoured to represent North Island-Powell River for a third term. 

“I’m just incredibly grateful for the opportunity to continue this work that I really love,” she said. 

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BC expanding safe supply to check overdose deaths

National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The B.C. government is expanding access to safe supply to provide more pharmaceutical alternatives to people who use drugs to curb skyrocketing deaths due to the toxic street supply.

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