Good afternoon, Mr. Chair, members of the Standing Committee on Health, and invited guests.
Let me begin by thanking you for the opportunity to appear before you today.
My name is Terry Dean, and I'm the president and CEO of the Canadian Lung Association. I am delighted to be joined by Dr. Mohit Bhutani, a respirologist and professor of pulmonary medicine at the University of Alberta.
Today I'd like to tell you about the Canadian Lung Association, how we have adapted to respond to the current respiratory pandemic, provide you with a perspective on the specific challenges of those living with lung disease, and share with you what we need in order to continue to carry out our mission.
The Canadian Lung Association is the country's leading organization focused on helping Canadians breathe. We do this by funding research, leading advocacy and providing up-to-date health information for all Canadians. We represent the one in five Canadians who live with lung disease. These are among the Canadians most at risk for developing a severe case of COVID-19. We also represent the five in five Canadians who simply need to breathe on a daily basis.
This year, we celebrate our 120th anniversary as an organization. Given the current situation, we are compelled to reflect on our founding in 1900 as an organization created to address another respiratory pandemic: tuberculosis, often referred to as TB. We made significant and valuable progress during that difficult time in our history, and we have helped to create solutions for prevention, testing, education and treatment of TB. We are confident we have a similarly valuable role to play now, 120 years later.
However, we find ourselves in the midst of a new respiratory pandemic, COVID-19, and our organization and our work have never been more important.
When you can't breathe, nothing else matters. No one knows that better than the six million Canadians already living with lung disease. We know these individuals are at the greatest risk of severe symptoms with COVID-19, including the need for hospitalization and treatment within intensive care units, and even death.
Beyond the very real increased risk, individuals with lung disease also face increased health anxiety. Many are concerned about properly identifying symptoms of COVID-19 and differentiating them from their existing lung disease. They have questions about how to continue their treatment, access medications and keep themselves in the best health possible. Finally, their caregivers, friends and support networks need to know the best ways of keeping them healthy and safe at the same time.
We've heard their collective voices of concern and have answered the call. We are doing our part to help Canadians understand COVID-19, prevent its spread and protect themselves.
We have created a unique suite of resources and tools to help them get the information they need. We've hosted a webinar, linking patients to respirologists and health care professionals to help them understand the specific impact that COVID-19 may have on them. We've created a series of FAQ videos that address the nuanced questions people have about smoking and vaping, as an example, and COVID-19, advice on medications and use of action plans, as well as how their specific lung disease would be affected by COVID-19. Finally, we deployed more resources so that our toll-free help lines could answer the increased calls that patients have on a daily basis.
As we put the patient first, we find ourselves doing more with less as we adapt our programs and resources to respond. We also fund critical lung health research, and we help develop early career investigators. If we are unable to continue to fund them, we risk not keeping them in the field of research at all, which would have profound long-term consequences on lung health.
From improving treatment options to enhancing quality of life or aiming to reverse or cure certain diseases, our researchers are working diligently to help all Canadians. Together, our programs and their research put the air back into the lungs of all Canadians.
During a time when we are being asked to do more, our sector is struggling. The COVID-19 pandemic has presented unprecedented challenges for the health care system and health charities across the country. The funding the government has provided thus far is greatly appreciated and provides some relief to some health charities. However, it is not enough to sustain them through the pandemic and into the future.
Canadians rely on health charities and will need our organizations to come out of this strong and ready to continue to deliver on the mission we've promised to carry out. The Canadian Lung Association is a member of the Health Charities Coalition of Canada, which represents a $670-million industry with 2,500 employees and almost three million patients. As a coalition, we need more support from the government to help us close the gap of revenue dollars to maintain our operation so we can get back on our feet and ensure that we not only make it through the pandemic, but we remain strong afterwards.
In closing, I want to thank the committee again for the opportunity to appear before you today. COVID-19 is a respiratory pandemic, and the Canadian Lung Association has never been more important. We ask the committee to consider the recommendations on further financial support for the charitable sector to ensure that Canadians continue to get access to the services and support they need today, but also into the future.
Now I would like to introduce you to my colleague, Dr. Bhutani, whom we invited with us today to demonstrate how we work in partnership with medical experts to help meet patients' needs. We'll be happy to answer any questions afterwards.
Dr. Bhutani.