Lyme Disease Framework Update – March 2nd

Dear Friends and Supporters,

I am writing today to address the draft Federal Framework on Lyme Disease, recently opened for consultation by the Public Health Agency of Canada. There are positive elements to the draft. However, there is also room for improvements.

I welcome the Framework’s statement that the diagnosis of Lyme is “primarily a clinical one.” It also includes an important commitment to the development of new and improved diagnostic tests. That said, I expected more out of this process. It has been over two years since Bill C-442 received Royal Assent, and the consultation on the draft Framework is taking place nearly a year after the conference last May. I believe that the Framework should be strengthened to include a commitment that the Government of Canada will not allow any Lyme patient in Canada to go without treatment in Canada. I plan to discuss this with Minister Philpott.

I encourage those who feel similarly to participate in the consultation by submitting your comments by email or mail to the below contact by March 8th:

Lyme.Framework.Consultation_Consultation.Cadre.Lyme@phac-aspc.gc.ca

Centre for Food-borne, Environmental and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases
Infectious Disease Prevention and Control Branch
Public Health Agency of Canada
130 Colonnade Road
Mail slot 6502A
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0K9

You can read more about the consultation process here.

There is now also a Parliamentary petition, e-903, that encourages a rewrite of the framework. If that reflects how you feel about the Framework, I would encourage you to sign the petition here.

Thank you again for your interest in this file.

Sincerely,

Elizabeth May, OC
Member of Parliament
Saanich-Gulf Islands
Leader of the Green Party of Canada

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