Madam Minister, let me make you aware of the reality that the provinces and Quebec may be experiencing. I know that health care does not fall under federal jurisdiction. Perhaps that is why you are a little removed from the reality created by the first two waves of the pandemic.
The Quebec ministry of health and social services report I was referring to indicates that, in the first wave, 4,119 people with cancer were not diagnosed in Quebec. In addition, from April to June 2020, there were 1,539 fewer cancer surgeries. For the same period, the number of radiation treatments decreased by 9%. There were 58% fewer of the most common prostate cancer screening tests. Medical imaging tests to detect lung cancer, the leading cause of death for both women and men, were down by 21% last spring.
That's the reality for non-COVID-19 patients.
The report also shows that the number of lung cancer surgeries for the period April through June 2020 decreased by 18% compared to the same period in 2019. The largest decrease was in April with 42%.
The same was observed with colorectal cancer, which is also very common. We have seen an incredible drop in the number of screening tests and the number of surgeries has dropped by 30%. I could go on and talk about breast cancer as well.
As a result, Mario Décelles, the director general of the Fondation québécoise du cancer, said that the numbers may unfortunately be worse in the second wave. This report was published at the end of January 2021, and the numbers in the second wave will be even worse.
You have the nerve to tell us today that we need to separate the approaches and deal with the pandemic first, as if the reality I am talking about is not urgent. Health transfers can solve this problem.
What are you going to do when non-COVID-19 patients die because they are not diagnosed, Madam Minister?
Are you going to say that this was not your responsibility and that the pandemic needed to be addressed first?