Quality palliative care running slow in Canada

Euthanasia and doctor-assisted suicide are prompting more and more debate–sometimes quite contentious–across Canada.

Both are prohibited under Canada’s Criminal Code and the federal government is currently appealing a British Columbia court ruling last summer that struck down the ban on assisted suicide.

Earlier this summer, the province of Quebec introduced a law that would protect doctors who offer the terminally ill medical assistance to die from prosecution and jail.

The issue will be debated later this month in Calgary, Alberta, when the Canadian Medical Association holds its general meeting. A CMA survey made public this week found that only a quarter of Canada’s doctors would be willing to help terminally ill patients end their lives if assisted suicide were legalized.

But there are many who fear the debate is taking the focus off what they see as a bigger problem: the lack of quality palliative care in Canada. Studies show that of the 250,000 Canadians who will die this year, only about 30 per cent–at best–have access to quality palliative care.

Dr. Harvey Max Chochinov is a world-renowned expert on palliative care and has written two books on the subject. A distinguished professor of psychiatry at the University of Manitoba and director of the Manitoba Palliative Care Research Unit, CancerCare Manitoba, he has received numerous awards, including the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal, and the Canadian Medical Association top honour, the Starr Award. He has contributed to more that 200 publications and lectured around the world.

Dr. Chochinov is also the chair for the Canadian Virtual Hospice, which provides on-line support and personalized information about palliative and end-of-life to patients, family members, health care providers, researchers and educators.

Terry Haig spoke to Dr. Chochinov at his Manitoba home about the state of palliative care in Canada.