Canadian Medical Association

CMA approves donor policy

The CMA Board of Directors approved a new organ/tissue donation and transplantation policy aimed at helping physicians help both patients and their families make informed choices concerning this potentially lifesaving decision. The issue of organ donation in Canada garnered a great deal of media attention in 1999, particularly given the country's relatively low national donor rate of 14.4 donors per million people. By comparison, Spain and the United States each have donor rates in the range of 22 donors per million.

The new policy, which replaces the original passed in 1987, encourages further discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of a national registry, but also urges that prospective donors to "discuss their choice with their family to minimize uncertainty and possible conflicts." CMA News 2000;10(6):3.

CMA plans sustainability

The CMA set a blueprint for sustaining Canada's health care system by passing 16 resolutions calling for everything from cash transfers to a national dialogue among physicians, government, the public and others to decide what services will and will not be covered under medicare. Outgoing CMA President Hugh Scully urged governments to stop bickering and develop a long-term agenda for health care, but some physicians at August's annual meeting in Saskatoon viewed a motion calling for governments to "rise above political differences" as unrealistic. The approved resolutions related to sustainability and included a call for health-specific federal cash transfers to the provinces and territories. To prevent any further erosion of federal funding, the CMA wants an escalator mechanism to increase funding according to factors such as the aging population and improved technology. CMA Interface 2000;1(2).

Delegates speak out against tuition fee increases

Delegates attending the CMA General Council meeting in August passed several motions related to the increasing cost of medical education. The principal motion, which was passed unanimously, called on the federal, provincial and territorial governments to work together to regulate and reduce undergraduate medical training tuition fees. "We heard a lot of talk about physician supply and how it's an increasing problem in Canada [in previous discussions]," said UBC medical student Kevin McLeod as he introduced the motion. "Medical graduates who finish training $100 000 in debt further exacerbates this problem and drives many to leave Canada." CMA Interface 2000;1(2).

New CMA president faces brave world of e-medicine

Dr. Peter Barrett, the Saskatoon urologist who became the CMA's new president in August, fears Canada will have a two-tier medical system in terms of information. Armed with information from the internet, the wealthy and educated will bypass conventional barriers to gain access to health care services. Less fortunate Canadians will not have this knowledge — or power. Barrett says physicians have to start using their "e-resources to the max." CMAJ 2000;163(3):325.

New CMA rural policy passed

Delegates at the CMA General Council in August unanimously approved a far-reaching new policy aimed at ensuring "reasonable access to uniform, high quality medical care" in rural and remote areas. The policy contains 28 recommendations on training, compensation, work and lifestyle issues concerning physicians working in rural and remote areas. Discussion about the policy centred mainly on the idea — eventually defeated — of adding a recommendation stating that the CMA support the creation of new medical schools in rural areas. "The fact is, every medical school should have a strong rural component to its training program," said Dr. David Keegan, a family physician in Placentia, Nfld. CMA Interface 2000;1(2).

Copyright 2000 Canadian Medical Association or its licensors