Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos (Québec, Que.) issued a statement on Black History Month: “As the pandemic has further amplified, anti-Black racism continues to drive health inequities in Canada. This type of racism, rooted in an unjust distribution of power, resources, and opportunities that discriminate against Black communities, continues to fuel poor health outcomes for racialized … Read more
Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos (Québec, Que.) officially launched a call for nominations to create a new Science Advisory Committee on Pest Control Products in Canada. The committee, established under Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency, will provide advice, as appropriate, prior to certain evidence-based federal decisions on pesticides, including on pesticide Maximum Residue Limits. Interested individuals can apply … Read more
Laser Medical Canada of Laval, Que., has pleaded guilty to charges related to illegally selling and advertising unlicensed medical devices, providing false statements to Health Canada inspectors, and interfering with seized products. The unlicensed devices were lasers and intense pulse light devices for hair removal, like those used by technicians at laser hair removal clinics. … Read more
Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos (Québec, Que.) and Minister of Mental Health and Addictions and Associate Minister of Health Carolyn Bennett (Toronto-St. Paul’s, Ont.) issued a statement: “This week was National Non-Smoking Week. It aims to educate Canadians about the health risks of smoking, help people quit, and deter non-smokers from starting to smoke and developing an … Read more
Health Canada has authorized the combination of two antiviral drugs, nirmatrelvir and ritonavir (brand name PAXLOVIDTM), to treat adults with mild to moderate COVID-19 who are at high risk of progressing to serious disease, including hospitalization or death. The active ingredient nirmatrelvir in PAXLOVIDTM works by stopping the virus from replicating. Until now, authorized medications for … Read more
Minister of Mental Health and Addictions and Associate Minister of Health Carolyn Bennett (Toronto-St. Paul’s, Ont.) announced the launch of PocketWell, a free companion app to the Wellness Together Canada online portal. This new app provides another way to help Canadians access online mental health and substance use resources and supports, and measure and track aspects … Read more
Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos (Québec, Que.) issued a statement: “As the global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic persists and new variants of concern emerge that require urgent action, the Government of Canada is delaying the coming-into-force of the Regulations Amending the Patented Medicines Regulations by six months. These regulations will now come into force on July 1, 2022. … Read more
Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos (Québec, Que.) announced a Canada-Québec agreement for virtual health care services in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Through this agreement, Quebec is receiving more than $28 million to expand its virtual health care services. Quebec will invest the federal funds through two initiatives: A Virtual Ophthalmology Solution which uses artificial intelligence to identify … Read more
Health Canada received a submission from Canadian Blood Services seeking authorization to change its approach to blood and plasma donor screening. The submission proposes to move away from the current three month donor deferral period for all sexually active men who have sex with men, and to instead screen all donors, regardless of gender or … Read more
Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos (Québec, Que.) announced the release of the Sixth Report on Human Biomonitoring of Environmental Chemicals in Canada featuring recent results from the Canadian Health Measures Survey (CHMS) cycle 6 (2018–2019). The most recent results, paired with results from previous cycles of the CHMS, allow us to report on trends in chemical exposure over time. Also released are … Read more
