Question 1: National Pharmacare
The Moving Forward on Implementing National Pharmacare Report (2) calls for the creation of the Canadian Drug Agency, a new agency that would take a coordinated approached to assessing effectiveness and negotiating prescription drug prices; a national formulary; and a national strategy for high-cost drugs for rare diseases.
A. If elected, will your government support a National Pharmacare program by joining the Canadian Drug Agency?
- The Green party of Manitoba has a policy and is dedicated to work with all agencies and levels of government to help institute a national Pharmacare program and will be dedicated to ensure people receive the medications they need at an affordable price.
B. If so, how would your government ensure that a National Pharmacare program will not reduce the number of prescription medicines available to patients?
- Greens put the well-being of people first, ahead of corporate profits and would ensure essential medications are all available to those in need of such medication.
Question 2: Tobacco Control
According to the No Manitoban Left Behind: Manitoba Tobacco Reduction Report Card (3), “Manitoba has some strengths in tobacco control… However, shortcomings…are stifling progress in tobacco reduction.”
If elected, will you work to:
A. Develop and implement a comprehensive tobacco framework that includes public education, policy and legislation, cessation programs, taxation and community/school programs, as included in the Summary Areas of Improvement listed in the No Manitoban Left Behind report?
- The Green Party of Manitoba is dedicated to healthy living and taking preventative measure to ensure the health of people. Preventative measure such as cessation programs are all part of a healthy living program. More work is needed and realized to assist in reducing health costs through healthy living and illness prevention.
B. Implement a social responsibility fee on the tobacco industry similar in design to the fee required by the US FDA, with funds collected used to update programming to reduce tobacco use?
- In order to promote and achieve a healthier society, the Green Party of Manitoba will omit to social responsibility fees and put the funds directly back to assist in reducing tobacco use.
Question 3: Breast Density
Over 40% of women over the age of 40 have dense breasts. Having dense breasts can make it more difficult for radiologists to detect cancer because dense breast tissue and cancer both appear white on a mammogram, creating a masking effect. As well, dense breasts increase a woman’s risk of developing breast cancer. Women need to know their breast density so they can be proactive and mitigate their risk of a later stage diagnosis.
If elected to government, will you and your party:
A. Commit to notifying ALL women of their breast density in their mammogram results letter?
- The Green Party of Manitoba will commit to notification for all women regarding their mammogram results with respect to breast density.
B. Commit to raising public awareness and education on breast density?
- The Green Party would absolutely stand behind public awareness of breast density and potential risks where women are concerned.
Question 4: Palliative Care
Manitobans live longer today than they used to, and they are becoming increasingly aware that the quality of life during those additional years is what really matters. Better advanced care planning and earlier integration of palliative care into the continuum of care in Manitoba would help avoid unnecessary and costly use of acute care, while providing enhanced quality of life for aging Manitobans. This will require an intentional focus on system-wide changes.
If elected, will you support:
A. Providing specific dollars to support organizations and healthcare teams in implementing palliative care programming, including increasing the number of residential hospice care beds in the province?
- The Green Party of Manitoba would conduct an assessment of gaps or shortages in the health care system and allocate funding where necessary to make up for the shortfall. We are also committed to implementing changes that avoid unnecessary use of costly services and that are of benefit to individuals in care.
B. Increasing the number of healthcare providers and services that focus on palliative care in the community and rural settings?
- The Green Party of Manitoba will support providing an appropriate amount of care givers to any area in the province lacking in necessary care.
C. Legislating changes to allow patients simultaneous access to both the Palliative Care Drug Access Program and the Home Cancer Drug program to allow seamless transition at end of life?
- The Green party of Manitoba is committed to ensuring medications are accessible and affordable for all Manitobans, and would support measures like this in order to ensure patients are able to access the medications they need.
Question 5: Manitoba All-Party Cancer Caucus
If elected as MLA, would you be interested in serving on the Canadian Cancer Survivor Network’s Manitoba All-party Cancer Caucus? The caucus will meet yearly and study issues vital to cancer patients and caregivers in Manitoba.
Please respond ‘yes’ if interested
- Yes