By Keith Martin, Special to The Windsor Star August 7, 2010

At the recent International AIDS Conference in Vienna, many excellent solutions were discussed about how to combat the pandemic, from treating people with anti-retroviral (ARV) drugs once they are diagnosed (Vancouver’s Seek and Treat Program) to ways we can better stop the transmission of the virus from mother to fetus.

We already possess the knowledge to effectively prevent, treat and manage this disease; however, there is still a massive gap between the treatments we have and their availability for those who need them.

What good are ARVs if there isn’t a health-care worker to test the patient, dispense the medications and follow up with them? What good are ARVs if adequate diagnostics are not available? What if you don’t have access to adequate nutrition? (An HIV-positive person needs 1,500 calories per day minimum, versus 1,200 calories if you are HIV-negative. Proper nutrition is the most important “drug” for a person who is HIV positive.) What if the medications needed to treat the many other diseases that can kill people, whether they have HIV or not, are not available? What are the effects on a population’s health if the people do not have access to clean water with which to take their drugs?
(more…)

   Send article as PDF to

Share this....

Hide Sites

It’s not glamorous, but basic medicine is key to improving health in poor areas

By KEITH MARTIN, Freelance July 21, 2010

At this week’s International AIDS Conference in Vienna, many excellent solutions will be discussed about how to combat the pandemic, from treating people with antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) once they are diagnosed (Vancouver’s Seek and Treat Program) to ways we can better stop the transmission of the virus from mother to fetus. We already possess the knowledge to prevent, treat, and manage this disease effectively; however, there is still a massive gap between the treatments we have and their availability for those who need them.

What good are ARVs if there isn’t a health-care worker to test the patient, dispense the medications, and follow up with them? What good are ARVs if adequate diagnostics are not available? What if you don’t have access to adequate nutrition? (An HIV-positive person needs 1,500 calories per day minimum, versus 1,200 calories if you are HIVnegative. Proper nutrition is the most important “drug” for a person who is HIV positive.)

(more…)

   Send article as PDF to

Share this....

Hide Sites

By Keith Martin Member of Parliament, Esquimalt-Juan de Fuca, B.C., Liberal Party of Canada; MD.
First Posted: Jun 08 2010 07:12 AM

Canada needs to articulate what it wants to achieve at the G8 and G20 summits.

Time is running out for Prime Minister Harper to articulate what he wants to achieve as the host of this month’s G8 and G20 summits in Ontario. Hope ran high when he announced earlier this year that one of the cornerstones of the summit would be reducing the appalling number of deaths among pregnant women and young children from entirely preventable or treatable causes. However, this optimism was dashed when the debate became bogged down in abortion politics. Harper and his key ministers rolled back the clock and said that Canada would not fund access to safe abortions as part of a comprehensive plan to reduce maternal mortality. This ignited a debate over abortion that diverted attention and effort from developing a plan that would save the lives of the most vulnerable people in the world.

There is still time for Canada to act with courage and vigor to save the lives of the nine million women and children who die every year from easily treatable causes. So what could Canada’s plan be for the G8/G20 summits?

(more…)

   Send article as PDF to

Share this....

Hide Sites

By Olivia Ward Foreign Affairs Reporter
June 7, 2010

WASHINGTON—The cavernous halls of the Washington Convention Center are awash in colourful djellabas, shalwar kameez, saris and African print cottons as the world’s biggest maternal health conference opens Monday with a speech by United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

But missing in action is Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who, as host of the G20 conference in Toronto later this month, has made saving the lives of the half-million women who die each year din pregnancy and childbirth his core theme.

The Washington meeting, titled Women Deliver, is timed to bolster the G20 agenda for pumping up funds for maternal health. There are 3,300 advocates and politicians attending from 140 countries, including the heads of major UN agencies, government ministers, parliamentarians, celebrity campaigners and former heads of state.

(more…)

   Send article as PDF to

Share this....

Hide Sites

MP Keith Martin could save initiative for women in poor countries and give Stephen Harper a way to avoid enraging his anti-abortion constituency

By Daphne Bramham, Vancouver Sun June 6, 2010

A maternal health care initiative aimed at saving the lives of 9.1 million women and children in developing countries each year is in danger of being torpedoed — or at very least watered down — by Prime Minister Stephen Harper when the G8 and G20 leaders meet later this month in Ontario.

It needs someone to rescue it, and Keith Martin is both a perfectly logical and the most unlikely person to do that.

The MP for Saanich-The Islands has worked abroad as a physician and used his parliamentary position to push for more and better-targeted foreign aid at conferences and forums all over the world. (more…)

   Send article as PDF to

Share this....

Hide Sites

MP Dr. Keith Martin is advocating a national turnoff day for children and adults.

That’s turnoff, as in turn off the TV and computer once a week as a way to confront a dangerous trend of physical inactivity among Canada’s children and youth.

“In our country, what is quite shocking is that for the first time in history the generation of our children today is expected to have a shorter life span than their parents,” said Martin, a medical doctor, noting that diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular problems are cropping up in young people.

“It’s entirely preventable. It’s just kids are not physically active. They’re sitting down for an appalling length of time. We weren’t designed to live like that as human beings. (more…)

   Send article as PDF to

Share this....

Hide Sites

Dr. Keith Martin attends world’s largest gathering of pediatric scientists in Vancouver.

This week, the largest gathering of pediatric research scientists is happening in Vancouver. This conference brought together the world’s leading experts in child health. The timing of this could not be better as recent studies that compare the fitness of Canadian children and adults in 1981 to those of today have revealed some frightening information.

For the first time in human history, our youngest generation will have a shorter lifespan than their parents. Inactivity and poor diets are killing our children. (more…)

   Send article as PDF to

Share this....

Hide Sites

‘No division’ between member nations despite conflicting approach to funding of maternal health

Joanna Smith in Halifax Susan Delacourt in Ottawa
April 27, 2010

The Conservative government has stated Canada will not spend any humanitarian dollars on abortion as part of its signature G8 initiative to improve maternal and child health in developing countries.

“Canada’s contribution will not include funding of abortions,” Canadian International Co-operation Minister Bev Oda told reporters Monday after arriving in Halifax for a meeting of G8 development ministers.

The declaration – coupled with a similar statement from her parliamentary secretary, Conservative MP Jim Abbott, in the Commons about an hour earlier – came as a surprise after months of vague back and forth without a categorical stand on whether its new foreign-aid focus on maternal health included access to safe abortions.

“Canada’s contribution to maternal and child health may involve various interventions, including family planning, which includes the use of contraceptive methods,” Oda said.

The announcement puts Canada at odds with the United States and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton – who spoke out for financing abortion when she was in Canada last month – as well as several of Canada’s G8 partners.

(more…)

   Send article as PDF to

Share this....

Hide Sites

April 26, 2010
Joanna Smith

HALIFAX—The upcoming meeting of G8 development ministers is unlikely to top the scolding U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gave the Conservative government for trying to keep abortions out of its maternal health project as far as headlines go.

That is probably just as well, because the main players will have enough to do trying to convince the rest of the world — including the protesters expected to sound their disappointment on the streets of Halifax — they are still serious about keeping promises made years ago.

“We’re hoping the development ministers will acknowledge that their governments have fallen short and if not announce things at least push their leaders to announce new assistance when they meet (at the G8 leaders’ summit) in June,” said Mark Fried, advocacy coordinator for Oxfam Canada.

The three-day ministerial meeting that begins Monday evening is supposed to lay the groundwork for proposals that will be the focus of the main G8 event in Huntsville, Ont. and Bev Oda, the Canadian minister for international cooperation, appears confident she will be able to find enough agreement among her counterparts to get that job done.

(more…)

   Send article as PDF to

Share this....

Hide Sites