Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thanks again to our officials for being here.
I want to start with you, Ms. Outwaite, as the acting head of the Public Health Agency of Canada right now, with the unfortunate departure of Dr. Butler-Jones, who is phasing out, I understand, after his circumstances have impaired his ability to continue. We certainly respect the work he's done at the agency over these years.
We're talking about innovation. We've had some discussion already about prescription drug issues and how to get a handle on the overuse of prescriptions. You're, of course, aware of the issue that I have been raising for a number of years. In fact, I think the first time I asked this question on the record was when Ujjal Dosanjh was minister in 2005.
I'm talking about proton pump inhibitors and C. difficile infections. There are an estimated 1,400 deaths a year. We don't have complete figures every year in Canada. It's clear these drugs are overused. I've been asking about the Canadian nosocomial infection surveillance program. Nosocomial, of course, is hospital-based, for those who aren't familiar with the language.
It seems to me I was told that in that area they were going to get to the bottom of the issue by looking at the issue in teaching hospitals. But somehow they failed to collect data at that time on the meds they were on at admission. It seems to me that would be a very simple thing to correct. Would you agree?