Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.
Dr. Lamoureux, you talked to us about a serious international medical crisis. I was very troubled by what I heard this afternoon. On May 21, you warned us about what would happen. During the course of an interview with the press, you said the following:
The shortage of isotopes should begin to be felt next week as the supply of 99mTc will be reduced by 60% to 70%, which will have a commensurate impact on the access to care [...]
Indeed, we can see that your forecast has been confirmed. During the same interview, you also said:
Technetium is used on a daily basis for 70% to 80% of our clinical interventions. It is used exclusively for diagnostic purposes, to detect cancer and its metastases, pulmonary embolisms [...] However, because of the shortage, we will have to delay these investigations and postpone some surgeries.
The case you described earlier truly spoke volumes. I tie that into what Mr. Jean-Luc Urbain said, namely, that the absence of technology has hurt Canadians a great deal. He has seen more and more cases of cancer over the past six years. Many people can look around them and see the numerous cases of cancer and realize the extent to which the fight against this disease appears to be lagging behind.
Dr. Lamoureux and Dr. Urbain, how do you see the actions taken or not taken by this government to deal with this crisis? Does the government realize that this is a serious medical crisis? Is it taking the required steps to resolve it? Do you have the impression that we will find a solution?