The reality is that pediatrics, as a field, has evolved. We have largely become a specialty of rare diseases. At my hospital, I work on the in-patient ward. It's the tertiary referral centre for the province of British Columbia. A quarter to a third of all patient beds are filled by a child with a rare disease. Clinically, this is in every pediatrician's wheelhouse.
I agree. We need to have dedicated leadership. This is a role for the federal government. It can serve an important coordinating role, as it does in many other areas of health care. We should have a national strategy for rare diseases. It should involve work on our drug development pipeline, our regulatory system, and how best to support and reimburse these medications, which can be very expensive.
I certainly agree that we need a national strategy.