Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak on a motion of critical concern to all Canadians. Multiple chemical sensitivity, chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia affect between 6% to 15% of the Canadian population. Of those affected approximately 1% to 2% are so severely debilitated that they require hospitalization. This is a large number of Canadians that need our attention. I will elaborate on these illnesses and their effects on Canadians.
Multiple chemical sensitivity or environmental illness is a chronic condition where symptoms occur in response to low levels of exposure to multiple unrelated chemicals and the condition improves or resolves itself when these chemicals are removed. It is a multiple organ disorder that is closely related to chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia. Symptoms overlap in these three conditions.
In 1994 the U.S. Centre for Disease Control concluded that chronic fatigue syndrome is a clinically defined condition characterized by persistent fatigue and a variety of multisystem symptoms. The core symptoms include excessive fatigue, general muscular and joint pain, mental fogginess and often gastrointestinal problems. Other symptoms include fatigue following stressful activities, headaches, sore throat, sleep disturbance, low grade fever and depressed mood. The symptoms fluctuate in severity and persist for a prolonged period of time.
The exact cause of chronic fatigue syndrome is not yet known. Current etiological theories proposed are neuroendocrine dysfunction, viruses, environmental toxins, genetic predispositions, head injuries and stress. The disease is more prevalent in women than in men.
Fibromyalgia on the other hand is a painful muscle disorder in which the thin film or tissue, myofacsia, that holds the muscles together becomes tightened or thickened causing pain. It is also known as fibrositis. This disorder shares many of the same symptoms as chronic fatigue syndrome and is also more common in women than in men.
The sad truth about these illnesses is that they destroy not only the health of those they afflict but also affect the lives of their families. Imagine your child being rendered bedridden by allergic reactions to the new carpeting in his or her school or your spouse or companion becoming disabled after his or her office has been renovated. These are the realities of people affected with multiple chemical sensitivities.
We may or may not be aware of the struggle of these people and the fact that they are unable to look after themselves and their families once afflicted. The problem is that there is no standard when it comes to applicability when we are dealing with these diseases.
Imagine an individual who is affected by this disease and applies for assistance, say for example through the Canada pension plan disability benefit. Those benefits may or may not be given to that particular person depending on the province or territory they may be living in. The problem is that there is no standard. The result is that disabled people are treated inequitably.
These people are sick and in many cases they are being denied benefits. At a time when they need support, they are being told no. The result for many afflicted with these illnesses is poverty, a lack of hope and in a few tragic cases, suicide. It is my view that we no longer can ignore these illnesses or more important, the people afflicted by these illnesses.
The suffering of these people is real. This fact is acknowledged by Revenue Canada, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, the College of Physicians and Surgeons in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Quebec, the Women's College Hospital in Toronto, the University of Toronto, Dalhousie University medical school in Halifax, the Alberta supreme court, the Peel and Waterloo school boards in Ontario, as well as the World Health Organization and the U.S. Centre for Disease Control. All of these organizations recognize these illnesses as ones that deserve our most attention.
There are other groups and organizations that recognize these diseases but in the spirit of saving time I am going to move on to talk about environmental medicine and the lack of it in many cases in certain parts of Canada.
For example, Canada has 25 doctors in environmental medicine. They are medical doctors who are familiar with these illnesses and know how to treat them. That compares with 1,400 licensed practitioners in the United States. Clearly we have an acute shortage of physicians who are trained to treat these devastating illnesses. Furthermore with only two medical schools, the University of Toronto and Dalhousie University, offering an elective course in this area, Canadian doctors are forced to train in the United States to practise in these areas.
Add to the situation the cost of the treatment. In many cases these treatments are not covered by the health care system.
I would like to share the remainder of my time with the Minister of National Defence who has a few comments on this issue.