The Canadian House of Commons Standing Committee on Health (HESA) is paving the way for the betterment of women’s health in Canada and calling for the rebuilding of a Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care to ensure the organization has:
- an appropriate governance and accountability structure;
- full and appropriate transparency;
- ethics oversight;
- content‑expert leadership with methodologist assistance; and
- respect for academic freedom.
What is the Canadian Task Force on Preventative Health Care?
The Canadian Task Force on Preventative Health Care is an independent body established by the Public Health Agency of Canada. It is responsible for setting forth clinical practice guidelines followed by doctors across the country, and screening practices for such diseases as breast cancer, cervical cancer and prostate cancer.
The Task Force has come under fire in recent years for its highly conservative stance on screening. Most notably, in May of this year, after reviewing guidelines for breast cancer screening the Task Force turned a deaf ear to requests for change from medical experts and breast cancer survivors to hold fast to its assertion that screening for breast cancer begin at age 50 and end at age 74. This decision goes against the trend toward beginning screening earlier. Many provinces in Canada and the US Preventative Services Task Force have now moved to begin screening for women at age 40. Following this decision, Canadian Minister of Health Mark Holland opened up an external review of the Task Force. The report issued this week by HESA lays out the concluding findings of this external review.
House of Commons Standing Committee Recommendations
In addition to the recommendation to rebuild the Task Force, the HESA report also calls for:
- an external expert review of the Task Force;
- better monitoring of outcomes of the guidelines;
- greater responsiveness to ensure guidelines are rapidly evolved to keep pace with modern science;
- the creation of high-risk programs;
- more granular data gathering with respect to ethnic and racial factors, breast density, mode of detection of breast cancer, stage, characteristics of disease and recurrences;
- the creation of public awareness campaigns promoting the benefits of breast screening, and building knowledge among young, Indigenous and racialized communities around breast health;
- greater federal investment in breast cancer research;
- funding for provinces and health agencies to expand and enhance access to breast screening
- greater investment in health resources.
The journey to this week’s HESA report is more than a decade long, led by the tireless efforts of Jennie Dale, Executive Director of Dense Breasts Canada. Jennie rallied Canadian doctors and researchers such as Dr. Sheila Appavoo, Dr. Paula Gordon, Dr. Jean Seeley, Dr. Anna Wilkenson, health experts including Martin Yaffe, and survivors including Shira Faber, Annie Slight, Natalie Kwandras, Jennie Bjorgford to her mission to effect change to the Canadian Task Force for Preventative Health Care and to improve access to breast screening and breast health information for Canadian women.
Since meeting Jennie over two years ago, we have spoken weekly, sometimes multiple times a week and worked together alongside award-winning photographer Hilary Gauld on our I WANT YOU TO KNOW and NOT TOO YOUNG photo essays. I am quite sure and have 2 am text evidence to prove it, that Jennie does not sleep. I am incredibly proud to know this woman to celebrate alongside her today.
She will humbly say that this was a team effort. However, I want you all to know that Canadian women owe her much — including our lives. You can read the full House of Commons HESA Report here.
