Go Keith

An uphill battle worth fighting: Moving resources where they are needed most

crystal — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 19:43:23 +0000

The inability to access the most basic of medical supplies plagues the 2 billion people who exist on less than $2 a day. This is a global tragedy made obscene by the knowledge that vast quantities of perfectly good medical equipment lie unused in our hospitals across North America. But there are solutions to connect [...]

Are we prepared?

crystal — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 20:34:02 +0000

A Global 911 system will save lives and reduce harm Ottawa – A devastating tsunami spawned by one of the worst earthquakes ever recorded slammed into Japan this Friday, killing hundreds and decimating dozens of coastal cities and villages. The effects of the magnitude 8.9 offshore quake were felt across the entire Pacific Ocean, including [...]

Opinion: Investment in poor women, and good health, pays off

crystal — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 14:38:27 +0000

By Don Cayo, March 8, 2011 – 100th Anniversary of International Women’s Day Give a poor woman a fish and odds are that, just like the man in the adage, she’ll eat it -though she’s also likely to share it with her family. But give her a loan, even a very small one, and she’s [...]

Canada’s great opportunity to reduce maternal and childhood mortality

crystal — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 16:21:47 +0000

March 8 is the 100th Anniversary of International Women’s Day. What an extraordinary opportunity this is to introduce an initiative that will save the lives of nine million women and children who perish every year from preventable and treatable causes. As Chair of the UN Commission for Accountability and Transparency on Maternal and Child Health, [...]

Poverty, not patent law, blocks poorest from getting medications

crystal — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 18:24:27 +0000

Canada should take lead in addressing world’s real health challenges By Keith Martin, M.D., M.P., Edmonton Journal February 16, 2011 The debate around enabling people living in developing countries to acquire life-saving medications has been passionate. Proponents for changing Canada’s Access to Medicines Regime (CAMR) maintain that altering patent rules will enable the world’s poorest to [...]

How to Save 4 Million Children’s Lives – GAVI’s vaccine programmes a breakthrough in child health

crystal — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 16:06:31 +0000

As a physician, the death of a child from a preventable or treatable disease is one of life’s most heart wrenching experiences. Visiting a West African clinic I was confronted by a row of six lethargic babies splayed out on a long wooden table with IVs in their arms as they fought for their lives. [...]

A Prescription for Emergency Room Overcrowding

crystal — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 15:34:11 +0000

by Dr. Keith Martin M.D., M.P. Fifty two per cent of Canadians agree that our health care system is broken and needs to undergo fundamental change if it is going to meet our needs in the future. One essential change must be reducing the back-logs in Canadian emergency rooms. As a physician who practiced emergency [...]

Usage-based billing will hurt Canadian consumers, businesses

crystal — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 22:31:43 +0000

Harper government must reverse CRTC’s decision, says Dr. Keith Martin, MP The recent Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) decision to allow Internet “usage-based billing” (UBB) will enable large Internet service providers to raise rates and reduce download limits for consumers. In the current climate of limited competition, this decision is severely myopic [...]

Our health care delusion

crystal — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 19:42:48 +0000

by Ken MacQueen on Tuesday, January 25, 2011 On Jan. 26, Maclean’s is hosting “Health Care in Canada: Time to Rebuild Medicare,” a town hall discussion at the Sir James Dunn Theatre, Dalhousie University, Halifax. The event, in conjunction with the Canadian Medical Association, will be broadcast live by CPAC. The conversation on health reform [...]

Assessing Afghanistan

crystal — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 18:37:11 +0000

KEITH MARTIN, MD, MP WHERE IS THE PLAN TO REALLY HOLD PRESIDENT KARZAI AND HIS GOVERNMENT TO ACCOUNT? Canada will keep 950 soldiers in Afghanistan to train the Afghan National Army and the Afghan National Police. This is an essential element for the country to provide for its own security and stability. However, training the ANA [...]