News and Issues

The number of regulated nurses employed in nursing in Canada grew by more than 15,000 in the four years between 2003 and 2006, reaching 325,299. This represents a growth of 5% in the number of nurses compared to a 3% growth in the Canadian population over the same time period, according to a new report released today by the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI). When broken down by nursing group, the latest numbers show that in 2006 there were 772 registered nurses (RNs) per 100,000 Canadians, 205 licensed practical nurses (LPNs) and 51 registered psychiatric nurses (RPNs). RPNs are educated and regulated only in the four Western provinces. The report, Highlights From the Regulated Nursing Workforce in Canada, 2006, offers a comprehensive look at the workforce trends of the largest group of regulated health care providers in the country.  To read the full press release.

With one woman dying every single minute from complications during pregnancy or childbirth, United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro today urged greater investment to improve women's health, including reducing maternal deaths. 

"Now, it is time for the world to deliver for women.  It is time to increase investment in women's health and well-being," Ms. Migiro said at the opening of Women Deliver, a three-day global conference taking place in London aimed at reducing maternal deaths. 

To read the full press release.

In The Secret History of the War on Cancer, environmental-health expert Devra Davis warns that we're ignoring dozens of cancer-causing chemicals, like asbestos, benzene, vinyl chloride, and dioxin.  Listen to the story on NPR.

Judicial Watch uncovers new FDA records detailing 1,824 reports of adverse reactions to the vaccination for human papillomavirus (HPV), Gardasil, including as many as eight deaths related to the vaccine.

Closure of a feminist organization that has championed women’s equality rights since 1974 demonstrates the devastating results of changes to the mandate of the Status of Women Canada, says the president of the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO).

In a letter sent to Prime Minister Stephen Harper today, ETFO’s David Clegg called the closure of the National Association of Women and the Law (NAWL) “a premeditated tragedy” that can only further erode the equality rights of women in Canada.  To read the full release.

Letter (PDF) written to the National Association of Pharmacy Regulatory Authorities on behalf of the International Reproductive and Sexual Health Law Programme, Faculty of Law, University of Toronto to support the requested status change of levonorgestrel, commonly known as “the morning after pill”, from Schedule II to Schedule III.

FEATURE: Health & Environment

By Frances C. Whittelsey - WeNews correspondent

What was once euphemistically referred to as women's "change of life" is now a topic fit for musical marquees. But as Menopause Awareness Month comes to a close, women's advocates say therapies are still  shrouded in uncertainty.

For the full article.

By Jennifer Cognard-Black, Ms. Magazine

Once considered clandestine and risky, cosmetic procedures are currently treated across a variety of media as if they were as benign and mundane as whitening your teeth. Advertisers, TV producers, publishers, PR personnel and even physicians themselves are touting it as an effortless, egalitarian way for women of all backgrounds to "enhance" their looks and "stay young."

This article is excerpted from a longer piece in Ms. Magazine.View this story online.

September 20, 2007:  The Canadian Feminist Alliance for International Action (FAFIA) expresses its dismay at the closure of the offices of the National Association of Women and the Law (NAWL).  As a long-standing member group of FAFIA and collaborator on key policy issues affecting women, this closure represents a significant loss to women in Canada. 

NAWL, throughout its over thirty year history, has been instrumental in reforming legislation that has historically discriminated against women.  Through its wealth of legal expertise, it has advocated for the criminalization of sexual assault perpetuated by husbands and intimate partners, the inclusion of the equality clauses in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the elimination of workplace barriers, equal pay for work of equal value, as well as women’s equality rights in family law and immigration legislation. 

To read the complete release.

The federal government's $300 million handout to jumpstart provincially funded immunization programs for HPV vaccine Gardasil has met with support from many public health agencies, but scepticism from many in general practice.  To read the full article in The National Review of Medicine.