My name is Diane Francoeur and I am the President of the Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Quebec. Our association represents all doctors specializing in these fields, and we consider ourselves as experts on women's health in Quebec. In addition, we have many ties to Canadian society.
I am here to talk to you about three major health issues of importance to us which, unfortunately, are not equally accessible in all provinces. We believe very strongly that the federal government should be investing in equal accessibility for all women in Canada.
So I will proceed to the first point. As a result of the discoveries made by our friend in Genome Canada, prenatal diagnostics have developed very quickly, so that tools are now available and accessible in all industrialized countries, except Canada.
The current situation means that women who want access to prenatal diagnostics have to turn to the private sector. It is not always made clear or stated explicitly that these services exist, and they are not always readily accessible. Often, by the time women find out about them, it is too late.
We also do not want to advertise these services, because we want to promote our free system, which is available to all. Unfortunately, women do not have access to this technology and therefore cannot have fetal abnormalities detected early. Given that women have 1.4 children on average, we think they should have access to this technology in order to make the best choices and then prepare themselves for an abnormal baby or, at least, to get the best care for their infant.
My second point has to do with recognizing infertility as a disease. Unfortunately, that is not the case in Canada, so that reproductive technology is reserved only for the wealthy or for older women who have been accumulating money for a number of years. The result is that women will have more multiple pregnancies, often rather later in life, with disastrous medical consequences.
I am also the head of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University Hospital Centre for Mothers and Children at the Sainte-Justice Hospital, where we have seen an increase in extremely premature infants in the last 10 to 15 years. A study was done in Alberta that approved the idea of subsidizing a program to implant a single embryo, in an effort to reduce the number of multiple pregnancies. This study showed undeniably that there would be an extremely beneficial effect on the frequency of premature births. We believe in this very strongly.
Unfortunately, since people spend a lot on in vitro fertilization, they often require to give themselves the maximum likelihood of becoming pregnant. And since women do not want to take any chances, they have multiple pregnancies, with all the disastrous consequences that go with that.
My third point is the new vaccination about which I will now tell you. It was approved this year, and in our opinion, as gynecologists, it is the best thing that has happened to women since the invention of the pill. This is the human papilloma virus vaccine, and it will do several things. The first objective is to reduce the number of cases of cancer.
Women have become so afraid of cancer that they are having their breasts, uterus and ovaries removed to prevent it. But we now have a good vaccine which, in three injections, will definitely make it possible to reduce cancer among Canadian women. Because the fact is that despite our good health care and accessible services, the fact remains that cancer still happens. So this vaccine is excellent news for us, and we would like the Canadian government to promote access to it for all young girls in Canada. Of course, in order to be effective, this vaccine should be given ideally, together with the vaccine for hepatitis B, before young girls have started to have sexual relations.
This vaccine will also protect them from sexually transmitted diseases. Canada has always been much more effective than the United States in eradicating sexually transmitted diseases. That provides us with an additional weapon for improving women's health.
Thank you very much.