Mr. Speaker, historically, and in keeping with the treatment models of the time, the federal government supported hospitals specifically to treat tuberculosis or TB. However, as the rates declined and treatment regimens changed, these hospitals were no longer needed and many were converted to provide more general health care services. Rates of TB in Canada have significantly decreased since the 1950s, falling to a rate of 4.6 cases per 100,000 population in 2010. This decrease in rates was largely due to the discovery of antibiotics for TB in the late 1940s. The introduction of this effective treatment greatly shortened and facilitated recovery, thus decreasing the need for hospitals dedicated to the treatment of TB.
Health Canada does not have historical data specific to hospitals supported by the federal government for the treatment of TB.
Currently, provinces and territories have the legislated authority for TB prevention and control within their jurisdictions. Health Canada supports TB prevention and control in first nations on-reserve by either providing services directly or providing funding to first nation communities, first nation organizations, provinces or regional health authorities for the delivery of services.
The Public Health Agency of Canada does not collect information on hospitals or centres that treat tuberculosis. However, the Canadian Tuberculosis Reporting System, CTBRS, managed by the agency, collects information on all individual reported cases of active tuberculosis diagnosed among aboriginal people in Canada. Reports of all new active and re-treatment tuberculosis cases are annually submitted to the agency by all provinces and territories. For more information on the CTBRS and the most recent data available, please consult the following website: http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/tbpc-latb/pubs/tbcan09pre/index-eng.php.