Speech (committee meeting)

{
    "time": "2012-05-30 20:55:00",
    "attribution": {
        "en": "Mr. David Skinner",
        "fr": "M. David Skinner"
    },
    "content": {
        "en": "<p data-HoCid=\"2921851\" data-originallang=\"en\"> Sure. One of the most common ones that almost everybody would know about happens to be a natural health product. It's nicotine replacement therapy\u2014nicotine patches and gums. It took years for the government to gather enough information about the safety, quality, and efficacy to make a decision on whether a doctor's prescription was really needed each time or whether lower doses could be made available for consumer use. </p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"2921852\" data-originallang=\"en\">Just that switch alone\u2014there's lots of data in Canada and elsewhere. In fact, the U.S. just did a study on the economic impact: $2 billion in annual savings to the health care system because consumers can now use this product without having to see a doctor. It reduces morbidity and mortality in terms of smoking. The impact on chronic disease is incredible. It's a strong public health outcome. </p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"2921853\" data-originallang=\"en\">If we had had this measure in place at the time that natural health products like nicotine replacement therapies were going through, consumers would have seen it two years earlier. The savings to the system would have accrued two years earlier. It would have been a tremendous boon. </p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"2921854\" data-originallang=\"en\">In the most recent data, the 2011 health care costs, take a simple ailment like the common cold that people say is minor but still see a doctor for. If only 16% of those with a minor cold were actually doing something more for themselves, the savings cost would be enough to give 500,000 Canadians access to a primary care physician that they don't have right now. The impact of self-care is huge.</p>",
        "fr": "<p data-HoCid=\"2921851\" data-originallang=\"en\">Certainement. L\u2019un des plus courants, que presque tout le monde conna\u00eet, est un produit de sant\u00e9 naturel. Il s\u2019agit des produits de remplacement de la nicotine \u2014 les timbres et la gomme de nicotine. Il a fallu des ann\u00e9es au gouvernement pour collecter suffisamment de renseignements sur la s\u00e9curit\u00e9, la qualit\u00e9 et l\u2019efficacit\u00e9 de ce produit avant de d\u00e9cider s\u2019il fallait vraiment une ordonnance du m\u00e9decin \u00e0 chaque fois ou si des doses plus faibles pouvaient \u00eatre offertes aux consommateurs. </p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"2921852\" data-originallang=\"en\">Pour cette seule d\u00e9cision, il y a une foule de donn\u00e9es au Canada et ailleurs. De fait, les \u00c9tats-Unis viennent de mener une \u00e9tude sur l\u2019incidence \u00e9conomique: 2 milliards de dollars d\u2019\u00e9conomies annuelles dans le syst\u00e8me de sant\u00e9 parce que les consommateurs peuvent maintenant utiliser ce produit sans devoir consulter un m\u00e9decin. Il r\u00e9duit la morbidit\u00e9 et la mortalit\u00e9 li\u00e9es au tabagisme. L\u2019incidence sur les maladies chroniques est incroyable. C\u2019est un excellent r\u00e9sultat pour la sant\u00e9 publique. </p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"2921853\" data-originallang=\"en\">Si cette mesure avait \u00e9t\u00e9 en place lorsque des produits de sant\u00e9 naturels comme les th\u00e9rapies de remplacement de la nicotine sont apparues, les consommateurs y auraient eu acc\u00e8s deux ans plus t\u00f4t. Les \u00e9conomies pour le syst\u00e8me auraient commenc\u00e9 deux ans plus t\u00f4t, ce qui aurait \u00e9t\u00e9 une vraie b\u00e9n\u00e9diction. </p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"2921854\" data-originallang=\"en\">Selon les donn\u00e9es les plus r\u00e9centes, soit les co\u00fbts des soins de sant\u00e9 en 2011, certains vont encore chez le m\u00e9decin pour des ennuis de sant\u00e9 aussi mineurs qu\u2019un rhume. Si seulement 16 p. 100 des enrhum\u00e9s se prenaient davantage en main, les \u00e9conomies pourraient suffire pour que 500 000 Canadiens aient acc\u00e8s au m\u00e9decin de soins primaires auquel ils n\u2019ont pas acc\u00e8s actuellement. Se soigner soi-m\u00eame a une \u00e9norme incidence.</p>"
    },
    "url": "/committees/finance/41-1/65/david-skinner-2/",
    "politician_url": null,
    "politician_membership_url": null,
    "procedural": false,
    "source_id": "7611258",
    "document_url": "/committees/finance/41-1/65/",
    "related": {
        "document_speeches_url": "/speeches/?document=%2Fcommittees%2Ffinance%2F41-1%2F65%2F"
    }
}