READY FOR THE NEXT ROUND

During the first wave of COVID-19 in Canada, cancer screenings were delayed across the country. For some patients, that meant a longer wait for a diagnosis — and potentially a longer wait for treatment.

We have to do better for patients. Canada needs a cancer care system that’s resilient enough to function without interruption during future crises.

This Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month (March 2021), we encourage you to join us in finding and building solutions to this challenge. Together, let’s make sure we’re ready for the next round.

Watch the video below, and register today to join the conversation at the Colorectal Cancer Community Conference

JOIN THE CONVERSATION: Reach out and let us know your thoughts on how we can build a more resilient health care system!

Connect with us here: jointheconversation@colorectalcancercanada.com

THE RESILIENT HEALTHCARE COALITION

KEY MESSAGES:

1) The goal of the Resilient Healthcare Coalition is to strengthen connections across the system, showcase Canadian leadership and success, and identify and integrate models and solutions from around the world.

2) According to @WHO_Europe, the goal of resilience is “not about bouncing back to the pre-shock state but about evolving into something better”, based on lessons learned.

3) Returning to the pre-COVID-19 "normal" is not an option. We need to build on the lessons learned from COVID-19, to establish healthcare systems that are faster, nimbler, and able to better respond to crises.

4) While COVID-19 has impacted every aspect of healthcare, from postponed cancer treatments to huge surgery backlogs, it has been a catalyst for rapid, transformative changes. Let’s leverage the strengths of the initial COVID-19 response.

5) A strong health care system requires better patient outcomes, timely access services, innovative technologies and data driven integrated care. This is exactly what the Resilient Healthcare Coalition is working to achieve.

6) Healthcare spending is not a cost to be contained, but an investment in the health and wellbeing of Canada at large.

7) The California Medical Association suggests that at least $1.3 billion in funding is needed to return to pre-pandemic wait times, but Canada’s pre-pandemic wait times were unacceptably long vs. other OECD countries. What we need is a resilient healthcare system.

8) “We need resilience in all of these supporting areas – primary care, mental health, social care, community services – to give us resilience across the whole system” - Sarah Wollwork of WSP UK.

9) COVID-19 spurred massive drug shortages, highlighting the importance of a reliable and robust supply of critical injectable medicines. Cutting costs will not build a more resilient Canada – targeted investments will.

10) Cancer patients call on the Federal government to not only increase CHT transfer payments to 35%, but to also ensure that a portion of funds be allocated to reduce the dangerous backlog in cancer care.

To learn more, visit: www.resilienthealthcare.ca

Canada’s Secondary Health Crisis

Joint Letter on COVID-19 & Cancer

NEW NORMAL, SAME CANCER - ROADMAP TO CANCER CARE 2030

Through a review of the current state of cancer care in Canada and opportunities to learn from best practices in other countries, the core components of a roadmap for cancer care in Canada for 2030 will be developed. This will answer questions such as:

• What does good cancer care in Canada look like in 2030?
• Who are the key audiences to engage with?
• What are the barriers to achieving this?
• How can we measure progress?

CANADA HEALTH 2030

The aim of Canada Health 2030 (CH2030) is to bring together citizens, decision makers, and industry to develop new partnerships and dynamic ways of working together at the federal, provincial, and local levels to realize the goal of Canada becoming a leader in the transition to personalized health. CH2030 is a virtual, explorative scenario process starting in January 2021, facilitated by the Copenhagen Institute for Future Studies.

These engagements and insights will address the following questions:

• How does the Canadian personalized healthcare (PHC) landscape look today, and how could it look in the future?
• What are Canada’s strengths in PHC, and what are the greatest challenges to realizing it?
• Who are the stakeholders that are needed to drive PHC in Canada in the future? And what are the existing initiatives?
• What kinds of partnerships, collaborations, initiatives, and resources can make Canada a leader in PHC towards 2030?

THE NEW HEALTH PARADIGM

While the COVID-19 pandemic has shed new and sometimes harsh light on challenges facing healthcare systems everywhere, these developments were in motion well before the pandemic. To maintain a position of leadership in the turn towards personalized health, Canada must take stock of its core strengths and thoroughly identify its needs in healthcare as the diverse and innovative nation faces a promising, but increasingly complex future healthcare paradigm.

CANADIAN HEALTH RESEARCH FORUM (CHRF)

Colorectal Cancer Canada represents the patient voice within the Canadian Health Research Forum (CHRF), which advocates for funding for cancer research in Canada. CHRF is an informal group comprised of leading Canadian research organizations and individual researchers in cancer and other medical fields. Currently, we believe that the proposed regulation changes within the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board (PMPRB) will result in delayed access to new medications in Canada and a diminution of clinical trials that patients depend on. We anticipate declining private sector (industry) investment in health research and a strong impact on public sector funding of research due to the policy of matched funding requirements.

Protect our Assets

Protect Our Access Joint Submission to Health Canada

FIGHTING FOR A CAUSE

Colorectal Cancer Canada (CCC) is a patient-based organization composed of colorectal cancer patients and caregivers that understand the challenges of coping with the disease. The organization strives to promote colorectal cancer awareness and education, provide support to patients and their families and advocate on their behalf. CCC is also engaged in broader national and provincial health policy issues that touch all cancer patients, such as: patient values and preferences in health technology assessment, cancer clinical trials and Real World Evidence.

CCC has three major goals for its advocacy efforts:

• Promoting population-based colorectal cancer screening programs in all provinces and territories
• Cancer prevention through the promotion of healthy lifestyles
• Equal and timely access to effective treatments to improve patient outcomes

With these goals, we believe we can prevent colorectal cancer, prolong the lives of those touched by the disease and reduce mortality from it.

WHY DOES ADVOCACY MATTER?

Advocacy matters because the squeaky wheel gets the grease. But advocacy also matters because the alternative of not doing anything is really no alternative at all. Inaction has never led to change or progress.

Advocacy can be impactful because:

• Decision-makers react to those credible groups or individuals who most effectively bring their issues to the forefront of the public agenda
• In the case of advocating to government, competing interests between decision-makers and the public may be fully discerned when people make their voices heard
• As voters and taxpayers, we all have the ability to effect change