Canadians are ‘dying to be a priority’ in accessing cancer treatments: Open letter to the Premiers

LLSC is at the frontlines in advocating for more timely, equitable cancer treatment access, and this week this issue was elevated publicly in light of a meeting of Canada’s premiers (a group called Council of Federation). 

Cancer Action Now Alliance (CANA), a national organization co-chaired by Christina Sit, Manager, Community Strategic Partnership at LLSC, is making news with their public open letter to the Premiers. Their calls for action are: 

• Commit to new investments towards the improvement of measurable value-based patient outcomes in cancer, with meaningful input from stakeholders, including patient and caregiver representatives. This may be achieved through the development of publicly available dashboards that regularly report on important cancer care metrics, as well as strengthening pan-Canadian oncology federated data networks.  
• Prioritize early cancer detection and screening by increasing funding for existing programs, supporting research into new detection methods, ensuring equitable access to screening services, and strengthening team-based, interdisciplinary primary care.   
• Ensure an equity lens is applied to all decision-making in cancer care, ensuring underserved populations impacted by cancer can access the care they need, close to home.   
• Explore an expedited review and approval pathway for novel and innovative cancer treatments and ensure equitable access to these treatments for people in Canada living with cancer.  

A CityNews TV segment this week about the issues included Christina, and other advocates, speaking out about the extent of the discrepancy across Canada in availability and cost of much-needed cancer medications. 
 

Christina and her peers in advocacy are working hard to garner the attention of Canada’s premiers with CANA’s “Dying to be a Priority” message – not just this week during the Council of Federation meeting, but every week in every part of Canada. “This work shows the incredible power and strength of collaboration,” says Christina, shown here.  

CANA’s co-chairs, joined by Judy Ross, a patient advocate from Nova Scotia, had recently had a productive meeting with staff at the Nova Scotia Health Minister’s office, who were interested in the calls for action in the open letter. The health ministry employees were particularly interested in the focus on ensuring an equity lens is applied to all decision-making in cancer care, as well as exploring an expedited review and approval pathway for cancer treatments in Canada. 

Nova Scotian bureaucrats also said they were impacted by Judy’s lived experience and are keen to hear from more patient advocates about their challenges around cancer treatment. They also mentioned their key focus has been the time/ cost associated with traveling for treatment, particularly for residents in rural and remote parts of Nova Scotia. 

As a next step, LLSC and our partners will continue to keep them engaged. Nova Scotia will likely be hosting the Health Ministers’ Federal-Provincial-Territorial Meeting in Fall 2024.