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Prince Edward Island
CHARLOTTETOWN
— Butting
out on spud Island Dramatic restrictions on tobacco
sales have been proposed at hearings before a PEI Legislature
committee on Social Development. An anti-smoking lobby
proposed a three-stage process that would begin by banning
tobacco sales in pharmacies, licensed premises, vending
machines, schools and athletic facilities by Jan 1,
2005; next, on Jan 1, 2006, all signage and retail displays
of tobacco would be banned; finally on Jan 1, 2007,
tobacco sales would be limited to a select few retailers
specifically licensed and regulated by government. BM
CHARLOTTETOWN
— Healthy
wealthy and wise The Queens Region Health Board,
which covers Charlottetown and surrounding area, has
chosen to focus its efforts in the coming year on influencing
young people and their families to adopt more healthful
eating habits and increase their level of physical fitness.
"The board plans to accomplish this by recognizing individuals
and groups in the community who are leading the way
in creating opportunities for improved nutrition and
activity," says newly elected chair Douglas MacDonald.
BM
Newfoundland
ST JOHN'S —
Digging deeper
for soil lead Medical health officer Dr David
Allison announced plans to further investigate results
of a local soil lead study. While Canadian guidelines
set 140 parts per million (ppm) as the safe limit of
soil lead in residential areas, average values in the
city's suburban areas were 165 ppm and 1,076 ppm downtown.
Paints and gasoline that once contained lead are believed
to be at the root of the problem. DSS
ST JOHN'S —
Doctors get old
too Health professionals in Newfoundland and
Labrador are worried about the future of health services
if more younger doctors are not recruited. According
to the Newfoundland and Labrador Medical Association
(NLMA), 55% of its 934 practising members are 45 and
older. Among specialists, 60% are in this age group.
The issue is more severe in Newfoundland than the rest
of the country; the CMA says 30% of all doctors in Canada
are 55 and older. DSS
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Yukon
WHITEHORSE —
Wanna buy an ambulance
service? There's growing concern among the Yukon
Employees Union (YEU) over the government's transfer
of ambulance services to the Yukon Hospital Corporation.
For YEU president Dave Hobbis, it's not really a transfer
but a politically motivated sale by the government to
a private company. According to Mr Hobbis the Health
and Social Services Minister Peter Jenkins is merely
"divesting himself of a headache." The government has
had its share of problems in the past few months with
ambulance services, the main one being a lack of volunteers.
JH
Nunavut
IQALUIT —
Territory inks
medical travel deals The Government of Nunavut
has signed new medical travel deals with two airlines,
First Air and Canadian North, which will save the territory
at least $2.5 million over five years. Nunavut's health
department spends 20-25% of its budget on various forms
of medical travel, issuing about 20,000 tickets a year.
The agreements cover scheduled medical travel for patients
and patient-escorts from Nunavut to southern Canada,
but not emergency medical evacuations by air. JG
Northwest Territories
YELLOWKNIFE —
A reputation tarnished
After working for Yellowknife's Family Medical
Clinic for only a few months, Dr Richard Bargen was
fired in mid-February and may now lose his licence to
practice medicine. His problems started when someone
filed an anonymous complaint with the local Health and
Social Services Authority in January claiming that Dr
Bargen breached a patient's confidentiality, had a relationship
with a 17-year-old girl, and was in possession of child
pornography. Although he denies the other charges, Dr
Bargen admits that he did disclose a patient's information.
JH
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