Madam Speaker, on behalf of the health minister, I would like to thank our hon. colleague from Parkdale High Park who raised the issue of epidermolysis bullosa with both sensitivity and competence.
As she pointed out, it is a rare genetic disease. It dramatically affects a number of our fellow Canadians. That is why the federal government is willing to help Canadians suffering from this disease and to improve the health of the whole Canadian population.
Through the Medical Research Council of Canada, the federal government is funding biomedical and clinical research expertise on skin diseases across Canada. The foundation of knowledge that these men and women are building will give the researchers of tomorrow the building blocks necessary to find cures on such conditions as EB.
To further its commitment to health research, the federal government proposed the creation of the Canadian institutes of health research.
Over the next few months, a number of health research institutes will be created and each institute will put in common the expertise of Canadian health searchers all across Canada. Just imagine for a moment how great it would be to bring your child, for example, to a hospital which would be linked to a Canadian Institute of Health Research. Then you would know that the physicians examining your child would be able to benefit from the expertise of searchers located anywhere in Canada and working in every field of health research.
Physicians linked to such an institute would have direct access to the most recent and relevant data, whether it be the latest developments in the area of biomedical research on that disease or other related diseases. That would be more reassuring than the current situation and your child's health would be in good hands.
Therefore I encourage our colleague to continue—