I hear it as choppy when I listen to you, too. My apologies.
We are collaborating to ensure diabetes medication, supplies and devices remain available and affordable. We are amplifying announcements from provincial governments that support people with diabetes, and we continue to work on our national strategy, which Kim will talk about later.
We continue to work with governments on prevention, nutrition policy and pharmaceutical policy, which affect the daily lives of people with diabetes. We must ensure that the total ecosystem of the world of diabetes is balanced going forward, and there are no effects caused by policies that negatively impact our [Technical difficulty—Editor].
In these respects, like most other charities, we are stepping up during this time despite dwindling resources.
Health charities in Canada are a $670-million sector, supporting 2,500 employees and almost three million patients. We support well over $155 million of research and 1,300 investigators. Supporting research through this is going to be very important. Patients need services and supports more than ever as a result of capacity and the stress you've heard about today on our health care system. Charities must increasingly meet these needs without the help of volunteers, who are prevented from serving by physical distancing, and with reduced donations from households and businesses as they grapple with the economic impacts of the pandemic.
For these reasons, we are united with other health charities in calling for direct investment from the federal government of up to $28 million per month, which represents the monthly revenue decline of our members that we've been witnessing since March 2020. This investment would allow staff and volunteers to focus first on patient support, restarting our fundraising efforts and protecting our gains in research.
I ask for your support in calling for greater federal investment in this vulnerable sector. We desperately need increased support. For example, the emergency rent assistance program is not geared to help charities at this point. Many of these charities have facilities across the country, and other programs do not seem to respond to the day-to-day operational needs of charities. Many of our charities have had to increase care and are filling gaps in the health care system caused by physical distancing and isolation.
Now I'd like to ask my colleague, Kimberley Hanson, to speak about the impact of COVID-19 on people with diabetes.
Thank you.