Manitoba pharmacists will soon have ability to prescribe birth control, HIV medications
Pharmacists in Manitoba will soon be able to prescribe birth control, the province's health minister revealed this week in an announcement that came as a pleasant surprise to the industry.
Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara told the legislature Wednesday that granting pharmacists the means to assess and prescribe contraceptives is a "very reasonable expansion of scope for pharmacists in Manitoba."
The minister added in an interview the government is moving "very quickly" on the changes, which will take effect "in the coming days and weeks."
"We're trying to get it out the door as quickly as we can for pharmacists across the province who have been asking for this for years," they said.
Pharmacists will also be able to prescribe HIV medications beginning this summer, a government official said.
Manitoba, Ontario and the three territories are the only places in Canada that do not currently allow pharmacists to prescribe birth control.
Emergency contraceptives, such as the Plan B pill, are currently available without a prescription from pharmacies.
"Right now in Manitoba, pharmacists do not have the ability to practise at their full scope, the way that they should," said Asagwara, who pledged "to go even further" in granting pharmacists more prescribing authority.
Pharmacists Manitoba welcomes change
Members of the industry association Pharmacists Manitoba were in the legislature to watch question period Wednesday, after they were informed that Liberal MLA Cindy Lamoureux would ask questions about pharmacists' scope of practice.
In her first question, Lamoureux asked if the government planned to "enable and empower pharmacists who directly assess and prescribe contraception."
The question prompted a sometimes rare occurrence in question period: a direct answer to the question posed.
"The short answer to that question, for the member of Tyndall Park, is yes," Asagwara said.
Britt Kural, the pharmacy practice adviser with Pharmacists Manitoba, said she was "pleasantly surprised" by the response.
"We had no idea that there was going to be something right around the corner," said Kural.
The pharmacist said she believes she and her colleagues will be able to prescribe products like daily oral birth control pills, hormonal injections and IUDs, but the province hasn't provided those details yet.
Currently, a patient must go to a doctor's office or a nurse practitioner to receive a prescription for birth control, and must then visit a pharmacist to pick it up.
This regulatory change will save patients from seeing a doctor or nurse practitioner.
"Quite often pharmacists are a first point of care for many people in Manitoba, because they don't have access to a primary care physician or a nurse practitioner, especially in rural and remote communities," Kural said.
She couldn't estimate what kind of uptake pharmacists will see, but said her profession is eager to help.
Women's Health Clinic executive director Kemlin Nembhard said any step toward making prescription birth control more accessible is worth celebrating.
The change will make contraceptives easier to access for people without a family doctor, or for young people who worry about their parents finding out, she said.
While Manitoba's NDP government has been offering free prescription birth control since October of last year, Nembhard said some hurdles to accessing these contraceptives persist, such as the requirement to have a health card. It's one of the reasons the clinic runs a free birth control program, funded entirely through donations.
"It would be great for us to get funding through the province to support that program," Nembhard said.
Kural said Manitoba's pharmacists would like to further expand their prescribing authority. Some options could include prescriptions to treat the minor ailments pharmacists are already assessing, such as strep throat, ear infections and cold sores, Kural said.
Any such move would require regulatory changes from the province.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CBC
2 hours ago
- CBC
Afghan-Canadian combat advisers launch discrimination suit against Department of National Defence
Former military language and cultural advisers — who at times carried out some of the most difficult and dangerous assignments of Canada's war in Afghanistan — are now suing the federal government for discrimination over the alleged failure to properly train and take care of them following their service alongside combat troops, CBC News has learned. A statement of claim was filed on May 30 in Ontario Superior Court on behalf of 30 of the men — Canadian citizens of Afghan origin — who were recruited by the Defence Department to help the army on the ground during the brutal Kandahar campaign. The federal government was served notice of the $50 million discrimination suit last Thursday. Known by the acronym LCAs, the advisers were tasked with helping commanders and troops overcome language and cultural barriers. But they also conducted dangerous intelligence gathering on the Taliban, warned of attacks and eavesdropped on insurgent communications. They were civilians, not soldiers. Many of them returned to Canada injured and broken, only to be denied care by the federal government because their contracts with the Defence Department ended after their time overseas and their health concerns, including post-traumatic stress disorder, emerged afterward. "After years of dedicated service to their country, LCAs were abandoned in the community," said the court filing, which noted that many of them had secret clearance and could not discuss the operations in which they had been involved. Department 'actively frustrated and undermined' cases, suit claims The crux of the discrimination claim is that the advisers "were recruited based on their identities as Muslim Canadians of Afghan descent and were subjected to the same risks and hazards" as soldiers, yet, "Canada deprived LCAs of the same benefits and supports it provides to soldiers in recognition of these risks and hazards of war." The former advisers also claim they were discriminated against by not being given adequate pre-deployment training to prepare for the hazards of combat. CBC News has followed the plight of the men since 2019, and their case has also been championed by the Canadian Forces Ombudsman's office. The Defence Department, in response to media stories and watchdog pressure, sent the advisers' cases to the Ontario Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB), which is where most Defence Department cases involving civilian injury end up. The lawsuit claims the Defence Department "actively frustrated and undermined" the cases of the advisers by the "withholding of critical information from the WSIB and its imposition of confidentiality obligations." The actions, the court filing says, limited the ability of the LCAs to disclose information and that contributed to the rejection of most of their serious injury claims. The federal government has not responded to the claims in the court challenge. 'I would do it again and again' One of the former advisers, Jamail Jushan, says it's been a disheartening journey. "We were forgotten — ignored," Jushan told CBC News in an interview, adding that everyone he and fellow LCAs have dealt with have been sympathetic, but unmoved. "They appreciated our work, they appreciated our mission, but they paid lip service and there was no action." Jushan was among a handful of former Afghan advisers who demonstrated in front of Parliament on Remembrance Day last year, hoping to draw attention to their plight. Despite feeling ignored and suffering from post traumatic stress disorder, Jushan says that if someone asked him to serve again, he would. "I would do it again and again," Jushan said. "I am sick, but if something happened to Canada, this is my country, I will defend these people. I will defend this country. I sacrificed myself. I sacrificed my family. I sacrificed everything. I love this country." He said Canada gave him a home and a sense of belonging before the war. Abdul Hamidi, another adviser, said he's not so sure he would have gone had he known what it was going to be like and how he would be treated. "I'm a Canadian man. I'm a human being. I am one of you," said Hamidi, who was given a partial disability assessment, though it doesn't cover all of his injuries. "There's nothing different between us. So if you brought me to this level you have to answer me." Hamidi says that in terms of experiences and injuries, the only difference between him and those he advised in Afghanistan is that they carried the title of soldier. WATCH | Advisers who worked with Canadian Forces in Afghanistan fight for benefts: Afghan Canadians who worked with military fight for recognition, benefits 7 months ago Duration 2:10 Afghan Canadians who worked with the military as interpreters and cultural advisers during the war say they have been ignored by the federal government and are still fighting for the same recognition and health benefits as the soldiers they served beside. No compensation despite ombudsman recommendation Emma Phillips, one of the lawyers who filed the Charter discrimination case, says the military has publicly acknowledged the crucial role the men played in the Kandahar campaign, but has turned its back on them. The Canadian Forces Ombudsman's office has recommended that the advisers be granted a special compensation package, similar to one handed out for cadets injured in an accidental grenade explosion in the 1970s. In that case, cadets were eligible for $42,000 with an additional financial award going up to $310,000 for those seriously injured. The Defence Department has so far refused to budge. Phillips says the government's ongoing refusal to grant the advisers compensation is "a tragedy, really." An investigation by the ombudsman six years ago found that care for the civilian contractors during the war was an afterthought. Before the beginning of major combat operations in 2006, the department briefly considered implementing a policy to limit the duration and scope of civilian deployments. But the idea was inexplicably dropped, and it wasn't until 2007 that a temporary directive was drafted. The ombudsman's 2019 investigation found that the order was not implemented until November 2011 — four months after Canadian troops had withdrawn from fighting the Taliban.
CTV News
6 hours ago
- CTV News
CTV National News: Why six infants had measles at birth in Ontario
Watch Ontario's top doctor revealed six infants were born with the measles after acquiring it from their unvaccinated mothers. Heather Butts on the risks.
CTV News
6 hours ago
- CTV News
Survivors of MK-Ultra brainwashing experiments want judge to approve class-action lawsuit
It was called the MK Ultra project, meant to experiment on mind control using patients as guinea pigs. Lana Dean Ponting remembers her parents having her hospitalized at the Allan Memorial Institute, because she was a troublesome teen who often ran away. 'I was drugged up so bad I can't remember half of what they did to me,' explains the woman, who is about to turn 84. The abuse wasn't just medical. 'I bore a son when i was at the Allan Memorial and I got pregnant without ever knowing who the father was.' Ponting says she suffered from the debilitating effects of the treatments all her life. The experiments were sponsored by the CIA, funded by the Canadian government, and handled by a McGill University independent researcher named Donald Ewen Cameron between the 1940s and 1960s. It's reported the medical team used electroshocks, and experimental drugs on patients, including LSD. Ponting and several other survivors and their families were in court Monday as their lawyer is trying to get authorization for a class-action lawsuit filed in 2019. It's the first step before the case can move ahead. 'I think there is no question no one has ever taken responsibility. No one has ever apologized. There was some modest compensation in 1992 without any admission of liability,' said lawyer Jeff Orenstein, who's taking on the case on behalf of the consumer law group. He said that in the early 1990s, some survivors were offered settlements, without anyone taking responsibility for what happened. The courts already prevented the group from suing the U.S government. The CIA successfully argued the courts here have no jurisdiction. The other parties, such as the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) and the Canadian government, argue they can't be sued because the plaintiffs waited too long. 'There are many psychological reasons of blockages that just don't allow people to take action,' Orenstein said, liking it to women who wait decades to denounce sexual aggressors because of fear and stigma. Julie Tanny remembers how her father, Charles Tanny, was admitted over a neurological pain issue in his face. The doctors thought he had psychiatric issues, and began treating him. His daughter says he came out with permanent mental health damages from which he never recovered. 'He didn't know me or my two siblings. He remembered my mother, but he didn't remember he had children or that he had a business or anything. And he was very detached. That never changed. He never came back to the person he was before,' Tanny said. It could take a few months for the court to decide if the class-action can be authorized. If the case moves forward, the plaintiffs may finally have a shot at getting some closure that has eluded them for seven decades.
