Good morning. Thank you very much for allowing us to come and make our recommendations to this committee.
At the Canadian Cancer Society our mission is to fight cancer and improve the quality of life for people living with cancer. We are the largest charity in Canada, with over 170,000 volunteers. We are also the largest funder of basic health research outside the government.
As you know, cancer impacts the lives of virtually every person in this country, and next year will become the single greatest cause of premature death in Canada. Fully 40% to 45% of all Canadians, and I would say including everyone in this room, will develop some form of cancer in their life. That is half of all Canadians.
So why are we here? Why are we at a finance committee? What concerns us today, and it's at the foundation of our recommendations, is the financial reality facing cancer patients today and the long-term sustainability of our health care system.
This past summer we celebrated the 25th anniversary of the Canada Health Act, and at the heart of our system is the ideal of universal access and the promise, as Tommy Douglas said, that people should be able to get whatever health services they require, irrespective of their individual capacity to pay.
Last year Canada spent $172 billion on health care, and for the last three years health care expenditures have been rising steadily, at an average of over 6.3% per year. At this rate, in eight years the cost of our health care system will be double what it is today.
But increasing costs are only part of the pressure on our health care system. As you know, we have an aging society. People are living longer because of steady improvements in drugs and treatments, and in many ways in fact we're winning the fight against cancer.
The five-year cancer survival rate is now 62%. In the 1960s it was only 30%. As a result, we are now seeing more people with more needs than ever before needing the health care system, and this will continue to put increased pressure on that health care system.
How can this committee help address the realities facing cancer patients and the sustainability of the health care system? We are here to make three recommendations that we believe will provide immediate and long-term support to patients and some financial relief to governments, as well as helping to prevent cancer.
First of all, establish a national catastrophic drug insurance program. Cancer patients are spending less time in hospitals. Almost three-quarters of new cancer drugs are taken at home, and often these drugs are not paid for by the public system. Therefore, cancer patients and their families must bear these costs. This means that some cancer patients may not be able to take the drugs prescribed by their oncologists, and even those Canadians who do have insurance, co-payments and lifetime caps on coverage create huge financial stress. Cancer patients should not be worried about how they will pay for their drugs.
Furthermore, a cancer patient in British Columbia should not have better health care than their sister in New Brunswick. This is not universal health care.
Secondly, enhance the compassionate care benefit under the employment insurance program. As I said earlier, the number of cancer patients is on the rise, and many of these people are receiving treatment at home. This leaves an enormous responsibility on family members to provide care and medical support for loved ones.
The economic input the family caregivers contribute to our health care system is estimated to be $26 billion a year. These caregivers are not paid medical staff. They have families to look after, they have jobs to maintain, and 77% of all caregivers are women.
As our society ages, we'll have more people taking time off work to help a loved one fight cancer or other illnesses. In fact, studies show that three-quarters of us will be a caregiver for a loved one at some time in our lifetime. We need to provide financial support to these family members.
Our last recommendation is focused on saving future costs to the health care system. As you know, tobacco is the leading preventable cause of death and disease in Canada, and therefore we recommend that the government strengthen its strategy against tobacco contraband. We know that cheap, illegal cigarettes encourage teens to smoke and discourage adults from quitting, and if we don't act now, illegal cigarettes may well undo many of the gains we've made in tobacco control.
This is not just an issue of public health, this is also an issue of public revenue. The federal government is losing more than $1 billion a year in forgone taxes. Provinces are losing even more.
I know we all share concerns about the sustainability of our health care system. I also know we all want to make sure that cancer patients receive the treatments they need, regardless of how much money they have or where they live. The question is, will the government take the steps now to ensure that our health care system is there for its next 25th anniversary?
Thank you.