Let’s end unhealthy finger-pointing
The Province
March 15, 2010

One of the problems with the debate about our financially troubled health-care system is that we spend too much time comparing it with the U.S. system . . . and not enough with those that work better than either.

As Dr. Keith Martin, the Liberal MP for Esquimalt-Juan de Fuca, makes clear, neither Canadian nor American health care is the best in the world. Far from it.

Martin says that, relative to its population, the U.S. spends more on health care than any other nation, or $7,439 per person. Canada ranks fifth, with per-capita spending of $3,895.

Yet, he points out that, according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, Canada and the U.S. rank 22nd and 28th respectively in infant-mortality rates, and 8th and 24th respectively in overall life-expectancy. (more…)

Send article as PDF to

Share this....

Hide Sites

As Printed in the National Post February 4, 2010

Every minute of every day, a woman dies giving birth. The toll is staggering: 530,000 pregnant women a year perish, 95% of them in developing countries. Remarkably, 80% of these maternal deaths are from five entirely preventable or treatable causes: sepsis, hemorrhage, eclampsia, obstructed labour, or as a consequence of a septic abortion.

For every death, dozens of women sustain life-altering and irreversible injuries. Many develop obstetric fistulae that leave them incontinent of urine and feces, and pariahs within their own developing-world communities. (more…)

Send article as PDF to

Share this....

Hide Sites

The world needs a central command-and-control centre to respond to disasters quickly and orderly.

Five days after the massive earthquake hit Haiti, little aid was reaching the beleaguered people on the ground. Access to crucial medical care, food, and water was scant. Extractive efforts beyond what the people were doing with shovels and their bare hands were largely non-existent. Haitians, starving, dangerously dehydrated, and exposed to a withering sun, were dying by the thousands. This, despite the fact that large quantities of donated emergency supplies were sitting on the tarmac of the country’s main airport in Port-au-Prince.

Read the full article (pdf)

Send article as PDF to

Share this....

Hide Sites

Dr. Keith Martin speaking in the House of Commons on World AIDS Day, December 1, 2009.

Send article as PDF to

Share this....

Hide Sites

The following article was published in the Montreal Gazette:

Canada must help the women of the Eastern Congo

By Keith Martin, MP, Sarina Rehal, and Simon Child
November 24, 2009

Right now, violence is escalating in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), a region that has been devastated for over a decade by a series of conflicts that are collectively the worlds deadliest crisis since World War II”. Shockingly a girl who lives in this region has a greater chance of being raped than she does of going to school. (more…)

Send article as PDF to

Share this....

Hide Sites

Our Elite Athletes as Health Ambassadors: We can improve the health of our children for generations to come
By Dr. Keith Martin, MP

As the sun broke through the clouds and Canadian Forces CF-18 jets screamed overhead, the Olympic flame began its 40,000 km odyssey from our beautiful city. In less than 100 days, the world will come to British Columbia and the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games will begin. It will galvanize our attention around some remarkable feats of courage and athleticism. However, it also provides us with an outstanding opportunity to create a dynamic, post-Games legacy…

Read the whole story (pdf)

Send article as PDF to

Share this....

Hide Sites

Keith Martin, National Post
June 26, 2009

On June 17, the House of Commons standing committee on national defence released an extensive report on the health services provided to our Canadian Forces (CF) personnel with a focus on Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The all-party committee made 36 recommendations. During the time that the government is reviewing and responding to this report, the men and women in our Forces and their families will be continuing to make extraordinary sacrifices for our country every day. There are many things that have not been done, that must be done to provide the care they justly deserve from a grateful nation.

Here are five solutions, which could be implemented right away, that would dramatically help our CF members and their families:
(more…)

Send article as PDF to

Share this....

Hide Sites

As published on The Mark – Canada’s newest online news source
KEITH MARTIN

The lethal gun battles on the streets of Vancouver, the astounding number of murders in Mexico, and the insurgency that continues to grow in Afghanistan (which results in our soldiers being killed) all have one thing in common: the trafficking of illegal drugs.
(more…)

Send article as PDF to

Share this....

Hide Sites

As published in The Nanaimo Daily News

VICTORIA – Why on earth would Prime Minister Stephen Harper choose to take Canada out of the business of producing nuclear isotopes for medical use?

This decision is a veritable repeat of the Avro Arrow fiasco when Canada terminated this project thereby giving up our lead in aeronautical engineering. The loss of jobs, knowledge, and capabilities in this area eliminated Canada from being a world leader in a burgeoning industry.

The same situation is recurring right now due to the abysmal decision Harper made last week.

Canada has been the leading producer of medical isotopes for decades. This is an area of excellence for us that provides life-saving products used in nuclear medicine.

The National Academy of Sciences in the U.S. said last week that the only real solution to deal with the worldwide crisis in access to isotopes is to get Canada’s Maple 1 and 2 nuclear reactors working. Rather than doing this, Harper has chosen to throw up his hands and evict the field, leaving us without a domestic supply of isotopes and abandoning a field that provides high paying jobs.

This is not leadership, this is a national tragedy.

Rather than walking away we should expand our capabilities so that Canada remains the lead producer of these life-saving products. If we don’t, the extraordinary Canadian scientists who work in nuclear medicine will leave the country for other nations that will surely fill the void and become the new leaders in this industry. Why would we allow this to happen?

Dr. Keith Martin,
MP Esquimalt – Juan de Fuca
Health Promotion Critic for the Liberal Party of Canada

Send article as PDF to

Share this....

Hide Sites

Dr. Keith Martin asks the Minister of Health and the Minister of Natural Resources for their plans to get medically necessary isotopes and thallium to the hospitals and patients who need it to save their lives.

Send article as PDF to

Share this....

Hide Sites