This provocative April 29, 2017 article published by Citizens for Choice in Health Care (CCHC), “What Health Canada Won’t Tell You About their NHP Proposals…But You Should Tell Your MP”, sheds light on the hidden agenda for proposed new “modernization” of Health Canada’s regulations on natural health products and encourages Canadians to speak up and raise their concerns with their local MP.
It is no secret that when it comes to access to NHPs, Health Canada is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Portraying itself as a public protector citing safety as its justification, it instead seems to guard the interests and profits of big pharma and and does not work to fairly represent alternative medicines.
The CCHC piece does not camouflage its position and states, “make no mistake, the sole purpose of these consultations is to manufacture consent from stakeholders, the public and politicians for what HC is actually attempting, which is to provide a mechanism for pharmaceutical companies to monopolize NHPs for serious chronic diseases, as drugs derived from natural constituents appear, protected by use-patents”. It goes on to state that “the current HC proposals boil down to a purely bureaucratic and corporate agenda that has absolutely nothing to do with the benefit of Canadians.” The column ends with a call to take action.
Read the full article and learn how to effectively voice your concerns to your MP
Richard DeSylva RH, DNM from The Herb Works attended one of the Health Canada consultation meetings held in Toronto, early in May. Read his summary of notable take-away points.
NHPPA team members attended the consultations, both in person and via webinar. Listen to the complete recording of the first meeting in Saskatoon.
Find all of the accompanying slides
The recording is 2 hours and 23 minutes in length, the actual presentation with question and answer period runs for the first 1 hour and 30 minutes. The balance of the recording is of the participants going through a workbook exercise.
