Good afternoon, committee members. I'm grateful to be living and working on the traditional lands of the Haudenosaunee, Anishinabe and Algonquin peoples.
I would like to begin by thanking you for the opportunity to appear before you today on this important bill, but more importantly for your ongoing work to improve and protect the health of all Canadians.
Never have I been prouder to be a Canadian than during the last year. Witnessing our elected officials work together in challenging and ever-changing circumstances to help Canadians weather the COVID-19 pandemic has been inspiring.
My proudest Canadian moment, though, might be when, earlier this month, members of Parliament from all parties unanimously voted in support of MP Sidhu's Bill C-237. As someone who has lived with diabetes and several of its complications for 25 years now, and who has lost many loved ones to its consequences, it was powerful to see every MP acknowledge that diabetes is a serious problem in Canada, and one we must take bold and urgent action to address.
In 2019 this committee studied diabetes strategies in Canada, as MP Sidhu mentioned, and recommended the following:
That the Government of Canada, in partnership with the provinces and territories, and in collaboration with stakeholders such as Diabetes Canada, plan and implement an approach to the prevention and management of diabetes in Canada through a national diabetes strategy, as outlined in Diabetes Canada’s Diabetes 360°: A Framework for a Diabetes Strategy for Canada. The partnership should facilitate the creation of Indigenous-specific strategic approaches led and owned by any Indigenous groups wishing to embrace this framework.
Those were your words, committee. You recommended this because you recognized that countries with a national framework or strategy to address diabetes do better.
Diabetes is less prevalent and people living with it experience fewer complications, which is why the World Health Organization recommends that each country develop a national diabetes strategy.
Still, Canada does not currently have such a strategy, and in the eight years since Canada last had a national diabetes strategy in place, nearly two million Canadians have received a diagnosis of diabetes. That is why Diabetes Canada, our colleagues at JDRF who are here today, and the community we represent feel such a strong sense of urgency that Canada act to reduce the burden of this disease on Canadians. With someone new diagnosed every three minutes in Canada, at least 12 preventable lower-limb amputations occurring every day, as well as 20 more deaths, we don't have a moment to waste in embracing Bill C-237 and implementing a nationwide approach to preventing type 2 diabetes and all diabetes complications.
The COVID-19 pandemic only heightens that sense of urgency. People who have diabetes have been shown to be at least three times more likely to die of COVID-19 than someone who does not have diabetes. Emerging research suggests that COVID-19 infection may be triggering new cases of diabetes, and the economic insecurity and physical inactivity triggered by the pandemic has put many of us at greater risk for type 2 diabetes and its complications.
People living with diabetes are significantly more likely to struggle with mental health challenges, including depression and anxiety. COVID-19 has also exacerbated that risk. I have barely left our home in more than a year now because of the risk if I catch COVID-19, and I know that many of my friends and colleagues living with diabetes are in the same situation. The sense of isolation and worry that all Canadians are experiencing during these times is powerful, and it adds to the mental and emotional burden of living with diabetes.
During COVID-19, many people are delaying accessing health care, and that appears to be increasing the risk of diabetes complications such as blindness and lower-limb amputation. As Dr. Karen Cross said at the most recent meeting of the all-party diabetes caucus, if diabetes before COVID-19 was the earthquake, COVID-19 is the ensuing tsunami. We must act now to minimize the impact of the tsunami of diabetes and diabetes complications that we are facing.
Bill C-237 will improve diabetes prevention and treatment, promote essential diabetes research, improve data collection and address health inequalities. It requires the Minister of Health to table a national diabetes framework in the House of Commons within one year.
Bill C-237 is strongly aligned with Diabetes Canada's diabetes 360° strategic framework, which was developed in collaboration with more than 120 stakeholders and has strong support not only from the entire diabetes community but also from other key health stakeholders, including the Canadian Cancer Society and the Heart and Stroke Foundation. Diabetes Canada encourages that, when Bill C-237 becomes law, the minister refer closely to the diabetes 360° strategy in preparing Canada's new national diabetes framework.
When Bill C-237 becomes law, Diabetes Canada will be pleased to collaborate with the government to define the national diabetes framework and to implement governance and evaluation mechanisms and supports for intergovernmental collaboration, to ensure that it quickly benefits the maximum number of Canadians possible. That is why Diabetes Canada strongly supports Bill C-237 and congratulates MP Sonia Sidhu for her leadership in tabling it and for her commitment to our cause.
We urge Parliament to pass this legislation quickly so that we can begin implementation as soon as possible, which is what Canadians want. In an Ipsos poll conducted in November 2020, 86% of total respondents and 91% of BIPOC respondents urged the federal government to embrace a national diabetes strategy urgently.
This year, Canada and the world are celebrating the 100th anniversary of the discovery of insulin by scientists at the University of Toronto. This momentous discovery saved the lives of millions of people around the world and is rightly recognized by most Canadians as one of our proudest achievements. By passing Bill C-237 now, the federal government can make a fitting recognition of the significance of this anniversary and begin to reap the human and financial rewards of a nationwide approach right away.
Thank you for your attention.