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Federal Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq (left) and her Newfoundland and Labrador co-chair, Jerome Kennedy, chat prior to the start of a meeting of federal, provincial and territiorial health ministers Sept. 14, 2010 in St. John's.Gary Hebbard/The Canadian Press



MS Therapy

The message about a controversial new treatment for multiple sclerosis from a meeting of health ministers this week is clear: There will be no more going rogue.

"We have all heard the passionate testimony from Canadians who report positive experiences following the [liberation therapy]treatment overseas. We are speaking with one voice on MS," federal Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq told reporters on Tuesday.

Ottawa recently accepted the recommendation of an expert panel that more research must be done before trials start.

Saskatchewan announced some weeks ago that it would unilaterally fund clinical trials of the procedure known as liberation therapy.

And Newfoundland Health Minister Jerome Kennedy, who stepped away from a meeting with his provincial and territorial counterparts on Monday to announce that his province was moving ahead with observational studies, did not find a lot of happy faces around the table when he returned.

When she joined the discussion a day later, Ms. Aglukkaq made it clear that she wanted a more cohesive approach from provinces in the days ahead. "We commit to keep everyone up to date as the work continues to move forward," she said.

When asked whether she would consider a pan-Canadian observational study like the one proposed by Newfoundland, Ms. Aglukkaq turned the microphone over to Mr. Kennedy.

"We haven't asked the federal government to be involved in this project with us because the neurologists who are heading the project have given us a cost factor that we feel as a province we certainly have no difficulty with," he said.

But other jurisdictions were left to explain why they are not moving ahead with clinical trials or observational studies.

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty said his province has no plans to join Saskatchewan and Newfoundland in funding studies.

"We can't all pursue initiatives that serve the interests of all of us at the same time," Mr. McGuinty told reporters on Tuesday at the provincial legislature. "If one of us is doing it, that's a good thing, because it potentially benefits all of us."

Gloria Galloway, with a report from Karen Howlett



Sodium Intake

The rhetoric in the battle to cut the amount of sodium Canadians consume reached new heights after provincial health ministers threatened to impose regulations on industry if a voluntary national plan fails to achieve results.

Federal, provincial and territorial health ministers meeting in Newfoundland this week have agreed that the recommended daily intake of sodium should be cut to 2,300 milligrams from 3,400 mg, sources said on Tuesday. That amounts to about a teaspoon of salt per day and was the recommendation emanating in July from a federal task force, which said 2,300 milligrams is the upper tolerable limit a person can consume before the risk of health problems starts to increase.

Experts say the move will help keep federal Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq accountable on the sodium file, but it also provoked opposition from the country's food industry.



Reaching that goal will require a significant commitment from the food industry, since about 80 per cent of the sodium consumed in Canada comes from packaged or processed foods, such as bread, cereal, soup, sauces and salad dressings.

But the task force's mandate was to call for voluntary action on sodium; health experts and consumer advocates said regulations are the only way to ensure salt-reduction targets are met.

Now, provincial health ministers are hinting they may take matters into their own hands by agreeing at their meeting this week to discuss the possibility of creating regulations that can be used if the voluntary measures laid out in the task force's report aren't met.

Although the ministers endorsed the task force targets, a news release issued at the end of Tuesday's meeting said they are prepared to engage in "exploratory discussions on the role that regulatory instruments could play and under what conditions they could be used."

Food industry representatives said that kind of response is unnecessary and could even be unhelpful, particularly if provinces move toward drafting individual sodium regulations.

"It would be very, very challenging for industry to deal with 13 different sets of regulations on sodium in the Canadian food supply," said Derek Nighbor, senior vice-president of public and regulatory affairs at Food and Consumer Products of Canada, an organization representing some of the country's biggest food companies. "It just becomes very complicated and it becomes very confusing for consumers."

But Ron Reaman, vice-president of federal government affairs at the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association, dismissed the debate, saying the federal sodium report already calls for regulatory action if voluntary measures fail. Regardless, regulations won't be needed, he said.

"We are confident we as an industry can rise to that challenge," Mr. Reaman said. "If the provincial health ministers have decided to wade into the discussion and suggest there may at some point be a need for a regulatory mechanism, I'm confident we're going to get there on a voluntary basis."

Carly Weeks, with a report from Gloria Galloway





Isotopes

Provinces and territories have asked the federal government to pay them a combined $33-million to cover the extra costs of obtaining isotopes during the long period that the Canadian nuclear reactor that is responsible for a third of the word's supply was out of service.

The bill was tallied over the past few months and presented to the federal Health Department in recent weeks, sources said.

Federal officials say they are open to the idea of compensation but have asked the other jurisdictions for a better breakdown of how the money was spent.

Because the effects of the isotope shortage varied dramatically across the country, some provinces are asking for more money than others. Ontario, which was particularly hard hit, is asking for much more money than Alberta, where the reactor's shutdown had little effect.

Although Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq met on Tuesday with her provincial and territorial counterparts, federal sources said no agreement on the compensation is likely to be reached this week.

The aging reactor at Chalk River, Ont., was out of service for 15 months after a leak was discovered in May of 2009.

That left nuclear medicine doctors and their patients scrambling to find reliable sources of the isotopes, which are used in a wide variety of procedures for life-threatening illnesses such as cancer and heart disease.

The Canadian reactor was brought back on line in August.

Gloria Galloway in St. John's

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