Manitoba premier welcomes second child from Gaza in need of health care
For the second time this year, the Manitoba government has welcomed a child from the Gaza Strip in need of health care.
Premier Wab Kinew says the kindergarten-aged boy and some family members made their way to Egypt and were flown to Winnipeg after being screened by international non-profit workers and the federal government.
Kinew cites health privacy laws for not disclosing the child's condition, but says the boy needs medical care that is not available in his home region.
Get daily National news
Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up
By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy
The arrival follows that of an 11-year-old Palestinian boy from Gaza via Egypt in January, who also needed health care.
Kinew says in both cases, the Manitoba Islamic Association and other community groups have fundraised to provide housing, food and other necessities.
Since the Israel-Hamas war started in October 2023, children have been sent from Gaza to Qatar, North America and various European countries for medical care.
Story continues below advertisement
'Manitobans have a helping heart and when we can help kids, I think that's something we can all rally around,' Kinew told reporters Friday, hours after the family landed at Winnipeg's airport.
The boy arrived alongside his mother, grandmother and two younger siblings, Kinew said, and the treatment he requires can be handled by the capacity in the province's health system.
The first boy who arrived in January is doing well, the premier said.
'The child is in school, the child has made friends … and they've had their medical appointments with physicians who, while respecting their confidentiality, are telling us they're on a good path health-wise,' said Kinew.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Global News
8 hours ago
- Global News
Doctors at Kelowna hospital accuse Interior Health of misleading the public
The calls to solve the doctor shortage crisis at Kelowna General Hospital (KGH) are growing and getting louder by the day. 'There is hurt and there's anger that it took so long and it took a crisis of this level,' said Dr. Alysha MacKenzie-Feder, a Kelowna, B.C., pediatrician who resigned from the hospital in 2024. A group of more than a dozen pediatricians issued a public statement Monday, stating, 'We are reaching out publicly to correct misinformation that has been circulating about the crisis.' According to the group, there are only four pediatricians and one newborn specialist working at KGH, adding at baseline there should be 12. The pediatricians have been unsuccessfully pleading with IH for their concerns to be addressed for years, saying they 'foresaw' the pediatric ward shutdown and tried to prevent it. Story continues below advertisement 'These are not new problems and that we've been raising our voices for many years about the systemic issues here at KGH and how they've been impacting staff and safety,' MacKenzie we wanted to make sure that that was heard and understood that this crisis really was predictable.' According to the group, seven pediatricians left the hospital in 2023 with many of them still working in the clinical setting in Kelowna. The pediatricians accuse Interior Health (IH) of misleading the public by blaming the crisis on a nationwide shortage of physicians. They say the crisis is the result of leadership mismanagement that has led to a severely and chronically under-resourced pediatric program. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy 'What we need is a program with adequate pediatric services that physicians want to come to and that will stay in, and that requires the right amount of support and the right working environment and culture,' MacKenzie-Feder told Global News. 'Things like leadership that provides transparency and communication and that listens to the people on the ground, that hears the changes that they require.' 2:10 Interior Health CEO speaks out on pediatric unit closure at KGH A group of nearly a dozen obstetricians has also sent a letter to media amplifying the concerns. Story continues below advertisement The letter states , 'Our community is facing a deepening crisis in obstetrical care, the direct result of more than 15 years of neglect by the Interior Health Authority.' The letter goes on to say, 'Despite a rapidly growing population, IHA has consistently failed to prioritize, support, or invest in maternity, obstetrical, and neonatal services.' The group points to the Central Okanagan Maternity Clinic (COMC) as an example. IH opened the clinic at KGH in December 2023 to address inadequate maternity care services, but the doctors say it's no longer accepting patients due to a shortage of obstetricians. The clinic was being operated by doctors who already have their own practices and other hospital responsibilities with the idea that the health authority would recruit more physicians to staff it. The letter states, however, 'IHA failed to put in the necessary effort to recruit new staff.' It goes on to say, 'The consequences are serious and growing: our community's access to safe, comprehensive maternity and neonatal care is now in jeopardy.' Conservative MLA for Kelowna-Mission Gavin Dew said Tuesday a health care reset is needed, one he believes has to start with rebuilding the public's trust. 'What we're seeing right now is a critical communications plan, not an actual response,' Dew said. 'It appears as though the Minister of Health, Interior Health are all trying to save face and pretend that they've been on top of the situation when they've been asleep at the switch. We need to start with some honesty.' Story continues below advertisement In an email to Global News Tuesday, IH stated, 'We acknowledge the seriousness of the situation and are committed to acting with transparency, urgency, and accountability.' The statement went on to say , 'Interior Health takes the concerns expressed by pediatricians and maternity care providers seriously. We are meeting regularly with KGH physicians through daily calls and weekly meetings to listen, provide transparent updates, and work collaboratively on both immediate and long-term solutions.' IH added that it has successfully recruited three new pediatricians with one starting this summer.
Global News
14 hours ago
- Global News
Doctors, health experts call on N.S. to cover birth control and HIV-prevention drug
Nova Scotia physicians and other sexual health experts are calling on the provincial government to fund birth control and increase access to a medication used to prevent HIV. Four doctors, the head of the Halifax Sexual Health Centre, and a pharmacy professor made the comments today at a legislature committee hearing in Halifax. Abbey Ferguson with the Halifax Sexual Health Centre says PrEP — an antiviral medication that prevents HIV transmission — is so expensive that many people who would benefit from the drug are not able to take it. Get weekly health news Receive the latest medical news and health information delivered to you every Sunday. Sign up for weekly health newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy The drug is estimated to cost between $200 and $250 per month. Dr. Melissa Brooks, the medical co-director of the Reproductive Options and Services Clinic, says the province's pharmacare plan is so restrictive that it often doesn't help those who cannot afford their preferred birth control option. Story continues below advertisement Kari Ellen Graham, with Access Now Nova Scotia, urged the provincial government to sign on to the federal government's pharmacare program, which helps fund birth control. So far only P.E.I., Manitoba, British Columbia, and the Yukon have signed up to the federal pharmacare program. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 10, 2025.
Toronto Star
15 hours ago
- Toronto Star
Palestinians say 36 people killed trying to obtain desperately needed aid
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Palestinians desperately trying to access aid in Gaza came under fire again on Tuesday, killing 36 people and wounding 207, the Palestinian Health Ministry said. Experts and humanitarian aid workers say Israel's blockade and 20-month military campaign have pushed Gaza to the brink of famine. At least 163 people have been killed and 1,495 wounded in a number of shootings near aid sites run by the Israeli and U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which are in military zones that are off-limits to independent media. The Israeli military has acknowledged firing warning shots on previous occasions at people who it says approached its forces in a suspicious manner. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW The foundation says there has been no violence in or around the distribution points themselves. But it has warned people to stay on designated access routes and it paused delivery last week while it held talks with the military on improving safety. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday there is 'meaningful progress' on a possible ceasefire deal that would also return some of the 55 hostages still being held in Gaza, but said it was 'too early to hope.' Foreign Minister Gideon Saar also mentioned Tuesday that there was progress in ceasefire negotiations. Netanyahu was meeting with the Israeli negotiating team and the defense minister Tuesday evening to discuss next steps. 'People are killed just trying to get food' In southern Gaza, at least eight people were killed while trying to obtain aid around Rafah, according to Nasser Hospital. In northern Gaza, two men and a child were killed and at least 130 were wounded on Tuesday, according to Nader Garghoun, a spokesperson for the al-Awda Hospital, which received the casualties. He said most were being treated for gunshot wounds. Witnesses told The Associated Press that Israeli forces opened fire at around 2 a.m., several hundred meters (yards) from the aid site in central Gaza. Crowds of Palestinians seeking desperately needed food often head to the sites hours before dawn, hoping to beat the crowds. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW The Israeli military said it fired warning shots at people it referred to as suspects. It said they had advanced toward its troops hundreds of meters (yards) from the aid site prior to its opening hours. Mohammed Abu Hussein, a resident of the nearby built-up Bureij refugee camp, said Israeli drones and tanks opened fire, and that he saw five people wounded by gunshots. Abed Haniyah, another witness, said Israeli forces opened fire 'indiscriminately' as thousands of people were attempting to reach the food site. 'What happens every day is humiliation,' he said. 'Every day, people are killed just trying to get food for their children.' Additionally, three Palestinian medics were killed in an Israeli strike Tuesday in Gaza City, according to the health ministry. The medics from the health ministry's emergency service were responding to an Israeli attack on a house in Jaffa street in Gaza City when a second strike hit the building, the ministry said. The Israeli military did not comment on the strike, but said over the past day the air force has hit dozens of targets belonging to Hamas' military infrastructure, including rocket launchers. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW The U.N. has rejected the new aid system Israel and the United States say they set up the new food distribution system to prevent Hamas from stealing humanitarian aid and using it to finance militant activities. The United Nations, which runs a long-standing system capable of delivering aid to all parts of Gaza, says there is no evidence of any systematic diversion. U.N. agencies and major aid groups have refused to cooperate with the new system, saying it violates humanitarian principles by allowing Israel to decide who receives aid and by forcing Palestinians to relocate to just three currently operational sites. The other two distribution sites are in the now mostly uninhabited southern city of Rafah, which Israel has transformed into a military zone. Israeli forces maintain an outer perimeter around all three hubs, and Palestinians must pass close to them to reach the distribution points. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has spoken of creating a 'sterile zone' in Rafah free of Hamas and of moving the territory's entire population there. He has also said Israel will facilitate what he refers to as the voluntary emigration of much of Gaza's 2 million Palestinians to other countries — plans rejected by much of the international community, including the Palestinians, who view it as forcible expulsion. Hamas started the war with its attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, when Palestinian militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took another 251 hostage. They still hold 55 hostages, fewer than half of them alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW Israel's military campaign has killed nearly 55,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. It says women and children make up most of the dead, but doesn't distinguish between civilians and combatants. Israel says it has killed more than 20,000 militants, without providing evidence. The war has destroyed vast areas of Gaza and displaced around 90% of its population, often multiple times. ___ Magdy reported from Cairo. Associated Press writer Melanie Lidman contributed from Jerusalem. ___ Follow AP's war coverage at
