Nothing is done perfectly, certainly not at my hands.
None of us had a great knowledge or expertise about thalidomide when we took on this program. It's been quite eye-opening. The only lesson learned that I have had, frankly, is how uncertain we still are, 60 years later, about a number of factors, and that we have choices in the way decisions are made to identify thalidomide victims either based on objective criteria or based on probability and supposition. There are two directions to go, and within those two directions there are various kinds of options.
Canada opted to go along the objective criteria route. Other countries have opted to go on the basis of probability or a combination of those two. In either case it's not perfect. I don't think any of us who have been managing any of the programs internationally can say with 100% certainty that every individual who has been admitted and identified is in fact a thalidomide survivor, and I don't think we can say with certainty that every single individual who has been denied internationally is not. The bottom line and the lesson learned is that we don't know, and we don't know in every single case. Sometimes we know more than in other cases. All I would say in terms of a lesson learned is that we really need to pay attention to the science and the research and the development.
Is the commitment for this program something that will continue over the lifetime of the thalidomide survivors? It will be evaluated. It will have its moments to reconsider and review whether or not there are changes needed. I just can't speak to those more specifically today.