Mr. Speaker, I rise today to mark June as Canadian Wound Prevention and Management Awareness Month.
This month promotes awareness of the importance of evidence-based wound prevention and management for all Canadians.
I would also like to highlight the excellent work of Dr. Gary Sibbald at the wound care centre of the Women's College Hospital in Toronto.
More than five million Canadians are at high risk of pressure ulcers, leg ulcers and diabetic foot ulcers. Of these, 26% suffer from a preventable wound and 3,750 Canadians with diabetes had a limb amputated as a result of foot ulcers in 2008, and 51% of those have a high risk of a second limb amputated in the next five years.
A new self-management tool, called “Diabetes, Healthy Feet and You”, was recently developed by the Canadian Association of Wound Care. It is already published in French and English, and will be soon available in at least a dozen more languages to ensure that all Canadians can learn about the importance of foot care in the maintenance of their health.