Mr. Speaker, it is with great pleasure that I rise in the House today to support Bill C-239, the Decade of the Brain Act, introduced by the hon. member for London West.
The human brain, a mass weighing more than one kilogram and essentially consisting of nerve cells that control our emotions, reactions and activities, is one of the most impressive and mysterious wonders of creation. This seat of human intelligence, which enables us to control our movements, interpret our senses and interact with our environment, continues to intrigue researchers and scientists throughout the world.
In recent years, science has made it possible to clarify certain aspects of the human brain, but too many questions still remain. How does the brain function? By what is it affected? How can we prevent its degeneration? The rise in diseases related to disorders of the brain means that increasing our knowledge in this field is no longer an option but a necessity and also one of the greatest scientific challenges of our time.
Japan was the first country to launch a scientific program in 1987 to maximize the effectiveness of neurological research. Three years later, the Americans proclaimed the nineties as the decade of the brain and decided to set up a wide-ranging research program. The Europeans followed suit in 1992.
The purpose of Bill C-239 is therefore to ask Parliament to follow the example of other western countries and to declare this decade the decade of the brain and, at the same time, support and recognize the importance of research in this field.
The brain is the seat of many neurodegenerative disorders and diseases like Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's, of mental health problems like schizophrenia, emotional disorders, drug addiction and neurological disorders such as learning disabilities.
Canadians suffer from a wide range of neurological diseases. In 1989, the Canadian Neurological Coalition sponsored a ten-year retrospective survey of the frequency of neurological diseases in Canada. The results of this survey are disturbing: it was found that more than one Canadian out of six is affected by some mental disorder.
Our mental health is a very fragile thing and over a lifetime, a number of emotional problems may affect its delicate balance. We may experience a divorce, the loss of a loved one, the loss of a job, poverty, drug addiction, alcoholism or stress, and one morning we get up and we are in poor mental health. The balance is upset. The very strong are able to overcome such problems but others are not.
More than 50,000 Canadians today are also suffering from multiple sclerosis, the neurological disease most frequently found among young adults in Canada. Researchers have yet to find a way to treat this disease, and there is no explanation for the fact that Canada is one of the countries where the probability of getting this disease is particularly high.
There is also the problem of brain tumours. According to the Brain Tumour Foundation of Canada, brain tumours rank second as the cause of death in children under 14 and third as the cause of death in men between the ages of 15 and 34. The number of deaths caused by brain tumours increased 100 per cent between 1968 and 1987.
And what about Altzheimer's, a neurodegenerative disease that causes the irreversible destruction of brain cells and is one of the main causes of death among the elderly, although we now know it can strike at any age. Today, more than 250,000 Canadians are affected by Altzheimer's and related dementias, and it is estimated that 30 years from now, their number will reach 750,000 30 years from now.
In addition to the social impact, neurodegenerative diseases also have economic repercussions that cannot be ignored. We already invest substantial amounts of money in patient treatment and accommodation. As the number of individuals affected by this disease increases, long-term treatment will put an additional burden on health costs.
According to a study on health and aging in Canada, Canadians spend approximately $3.3 billion annually for the treatment of at least 150,000 people with Alzheimer disease in long-term health care facilities. This figure does not include the costs to families caring for afflicted relatives at home.
It is clear that diseases of the brain, including mental illness, degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and stroke are very costly. By making the public aware of disorders and disabilities of the brain, we will be encouraging increased support for research in this field, and thus stretching our health care dollars.
The decade of the brain has already begun. As I have already mentioned, Europe and the United States have proclaimed the 1990s the decade of the brain, and a number of research centres in Quebec and in Canada are already on board.
The Montreal Neurological Institute will be playing a major role in the upsurge in research resulting from the proclamation of the decade of the brain in the United States, decreed by President Bush in 1990. The Neurological Institute, an affiliate of McGill University, with about sixty professors, neurologists, computer scientists, students and other researchers, is participating in one of the most ambitious projects to come out of the decade of the brain: the creation of a computerized atlas of the most complex organ in the human body, the brain.
This project to map the brain is part of an extensive program being carried out by a large consortium of research centres, co-ordinated by the National Institute of Mental Health in the United States and funded by eleven American agencies. The Montreal Neurological Institute, which is a member of this consortium, is the only non-American institution to take part in this important project, an indication of its reputation.
The Montreal Neurological Institute and its McConnell Centre have become leaders, possibly world leaders, in the field of brain mapping. Although we must recognize their excellent research and their contribution to medical research in Quebec and Canada, we must regret that this work is largely supervised and financed by foreign interests.
In medical and pharmaceutical research, Quebec and Canada have the ability to excel and be leaders and, for that, we must continue to promote research and development. Proclaiming the 1990s the Decade of the Brain would be major support, since it would make Canadians and governments aware of investment in prevention, research, treatment and rehabilitation for those who suffer from various diseases of the brain.
Today, millions of Quebecers and Canadians and their families have the right to hope that science will elucidate the mysteries of the human brain. Following recent discoveries in genetics, with research and exhaustive studies compiled over many decades and extremely sophisticated medical equipment, scientists are about to penetrate one of the most closely guarded secrets of our civilization.
The impact of such a discovery is incalculable. Not only would it help to finally find a cure for the terrible mental illnesses that ravage our society but it would also make it possible to take a new approach and even cure certain disorders, like phobias, addiction and even violent behaviour.
While we support research and wait for further discoveries, we must propose effective prevention programs. We must always keep in mind that as our health care system and its funding are restructured, we must adopt an approach based more on prevention and education.
As health critic of the Official Opposition and as a member of the Bloc Quebecois, I am pleased to support Bill C-239 and to ask this Parliament to proclaim the 1990s the Decade of the Brain.