Friends and Family ...     

     


This Thursday, June 21st Member of Parliament- Elizabeth May 
will introduce a Private Member's Bill calling for the 
development of a national strategy to address the challenges of the timely recognition, proper diagnosis and treatment of Lyme disease. The Bill also calls for funding for provinces and territories to implement the strategy.


    
                           
       Speak out for Riley and thousands of others    
                     suffering from Lyme Disease

                                         

Time to take Action

Lyme Disease is on the rise across Canada

                                         

Ticks are not going away


Opportunity to have our voices heard


Stop government and medical politics that are  getting in the way of proper diagnosis and  treatment    

                                                                                                                          

    
                                            

The Bill is multi-faceted, with detailed timelines that require adherence by the Federal Minister of Health at various stages, including when the conference must be convened, when the health minister would report back to MP’s, timeline for posting new national strategy on the official gov’t website, and many other critical details to ensure that the job is done right.

Ø  A press conference will be held at 11:30 am this Thursday, June 21st, 2012 in the Charles Lynch media room, Parliament Hill, Ottawa.

Ø  There will also be a reading of the bill by Elizabeth to our federally elected MP’s later the same day.

Ø   Nicloe B.- teenager and Lyme Disease victim- will be present a collage of photos at this press conference….a voice for all children, adults and families living with Lyme.

Ø  Nicole and her mother have been in touch with Riley these past couple of years offering support and encouragement. Riley’s photo will be on this collage.

      Although Elizabeth May is the leader of The Green Party, this bill is not party specific and is aimed at supporting all Canadians with a much-needed, coordinated national strategy to get rid of the massive roadblocks currently preventing quick diagnosis, timely and accurate testing, full treatment and longer term support and care.

Excerpts from Elizabeth May’s statement on her web site give a little more context to her decision to offer support to the growing cadre of Canadians who are ill or disabled with lyme disease.

“Lyme disease can be devastating. Too many Canadians are now disabled, deprived of the joy of family and friends, of school or work, due to Lyme disease.  The public and the medical community need to be educated as to the increasing incidence and range of this disease,” said May.

Warming temperatures are leading the increase in range for the black legged tick.  Scientists are endeavoring to create enhanced surveillance tools, such as risk maps.  A national strategy could support this work and ensure that people can be vigilant in areas where the tick is becoming established.  If doctors know that the local risk has increased, they can help with early diagnosis and prevention.

Early treatment with antibiotics can avoid potentially serious long-term disabilities or even death.  Lyme disease requires improved diagnostic testing and proper treatment to avoid the long term effects of Chronic Lyme Disease.

“Scientists are warning that a warming climate will expand the geographic range of Lyme disease-carrying ticks further into Canada, so it is imperative that we are proactive,” said May.

How can each one of us help Elizabeth pass this Bill?

We are asking everyone to pass on this info to friends & family (wherever they live in Canada), and do the following to get this National Lyme Strategy Bill passed:

• Contact your federal MP and if at all humanly possible set up a face-to-face meeting.
• Post a comment on Elizabeth May's website to show your support 
• Tell  your story, and how Lyme disease affects you, your family or your friends.
• Tell MP that you know others across Canada in the same predicament 
• Use information from our blog (links at top of page) to highlight the urgent need for improved testing, doctor training and effective clinical diagnosis and treatment
• Tell MP that you, your family or friend(s) are being denied the right to health care and the devastating impact that has had on their recovery, family life and finances
• Ask if you can count on their support to get this bill passed.
•  Make sure your MP knows this is not just a ‘Green’ party bill, it is a bill that could affect every single Canadian including themselves, or their loved ones.

      As an example of what should be communicated to politicians, read a letter  

       written by David Cubberley, the B.C. Director of the Canadian Lyme Disease       
       Foundation.to the B.C, Minister of Health. In it he provides a good synopsis of the  
       situation facing more and  more patients, not just in British Columbia, but also across 
       the rest of Canada.  Accurate information is being withheld from doctors and from the general    
       public. Testing is woefully inadequate. And many are suffering. Come on Canada, let’s get our 

       act together. Don’t run  away from Lyme disease!

"British Columbians are being denied access to medically necessary care due to flawed tests and an induced skepticism about Lyme’s prevalence promoted by the CDC on the U.S. model. Actions are needed to provide doctors with appropriate diagnostic tools and to free them to recognize and treat Lyme effectively when it appears in their offices. This is not difficult to do, but it means getting out from under the inadequacies of the BC CDC’s suppressive approach to this disease. And this needs to be done before the disease becomes an epidemic."

[From Lyme Disease Debacle: Let's End The Denial}              

            Remind your MP to vote with their conscience as this is a private member’s bill; 

            no party vote needed.

            Contact friends, family, acquaintances, people in your local communities. 

            Let them know how important this is to thousands of Canadians.

           

          

     How many more will be bit by ticks this summer and go on to suffer the devastating impact of unreliable testing, ignorance on the part of doctors, months/years of health care money going into the pursuit of a diagnosis.

      Feel free to include the link to this blog as an 
      example  of what is happening to our children suffering with Lyme Disease. They need to be able to put faces to the stories.

THANK YOU!!!