| 
Canada set to lose measles elimination status Canada is set to lose its measles elimination status, a designation it has held until since 1998. Across the country public health officials have been doing everything they can to stop the spread for more than a year. In a statement to Global News, a spokesperson for the Public Health Agency of Canada said that the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) will assess Canada’s measles elimination status during its upcoming meeting on November 4–7, 2025, with a final decision expected by late 2025 or early 2026. Dr. Samira Jeimy said travel and missed appointments during the COVID-19 pandemic have contributed to the spike in measles cases, but misinformation has also broken-down trust in public health advice. “In terms of on a day-to-day basis in my clinic, there is lots of vaccine hesitancy,” Jeimy said. Dr. Sarah Wilson with Public Health Ontario said reminding people about the safety and efficacy of vaccines remains part of the strategy to keep case counts as low as possible. Watch more to learn about the medical concerns doctors have if measles continues to circulate. 
Quebec doctors at odds with new compensation rules Quebec doctors have been voicing their frustrations with newly passed work laws. The controversial bill links doctors pay to performance targets including the number of patients, which some physicians say effectively amounts to a pay cut. Bill 2 was passed in Quebec’s National Assembly last weekend. Since then, more than 100 doctors have already applied to work in other provinces. Some are looking to move to Atlantic Canada. The New Brunswick College of Physicians said there has been a recent spike in the number of doctors looking to obtain licenses this month alone. Ontario Premier Doug Ford said Quebec doctors are welcome to cross the border and work in his province. Ford made the comments Wednesday at a press conference saying they should call his cellphone. In response, Quebec Premier Francois Legault called Ford’s comments unacceptable, saying they showed a clear lack of judgement. Listen to more of Ford’s comments here. 
— THE TOPIC — New drug approved for Alzheimer’s disease For the first time, Health Canada has approved a new drug that can slow the progression of Alzheimer's disease and it's giving new hope that the disease can be tackled early. On Monday, Health Canada announced approval for lecanemab, commercially known as "Leqembi." The treatment has already been approved in some other countries, including the U.S., the U.K., Japan, Mexico and China. It is currently under regulatory review in 15 other countries and regions, including the European Union. Lecanemab is meant for adults who have a clinical diagnosis of mild dementia due to Alzheimer's disease. The drug is the first new Alzheimer's treatment approved by Health Canada in more than a decade and the first to target the underlying biology of the disease, the Alzheimer Society of Canada said. "Clinical studies show that Lecanemab can help slow decline in memory, thinking and daily activities for people with mild cognitive impairment or early-stage Alzheimer's disease," the society said in a statement, welcoming Health Canada's approval. "This is a big deal," said Dr. Sharon Cohen, a neurologist and the medical director of Toronto Memory Program. Lecanemab targets amyloids, a sticky protein that develops in the brain in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease, Cohen said. "We've only had treatments up until now that deal with symptoms later in the disease, not the early brain changes," she added. By clearing amyloids and treating the disease early, the drug could help keep symptoms mild for a longer period for many patients, Cohen said. While this new treatment is "helpful" in some ways, "this is certainly not going to be the silver bullet that is going to resolve the issues of dementia," said Dr. Samir Sinha, director of health policy research at the National Institute on Ageing. "You have to be put on it at a very, very early stage of the illness," he said. This means frequent and routine MRIs are needed to check if a patient is having side effects such as microbleeds in the brain, he warned. "We still don't know whether being on it for 18 or more months and paying a lot of money and going through a lot of burden of being on it is going to generate any clinically significant benefits," he said. Sinha said while the treatment has "some disease-modifying properties," it is by no means a cure for dementia. Read more about cost and the potential roll out for the drug in Canada. | 
0 Komentar untuk "Health IQ: Measles elimination and a new Alzheimer’s drug "