And just last week Canada’s Health Minister, Marjorie Michel, announced equally exhilarating plans. Our recently reenergized health screening task force will be re-launched next spring! This decision comes on the heels of a new Navigant report calling for sweeping reforms to make breast cancer screening more patient-centered and efficient. Dr. Anna Wilkinson, an oncologist at the Ottawa Hospital, emphasized that the report establishes a foundation for “agile, ‘living’ guidelines that keep pace with scientific advancements.”
The priority now is getting the task force to work, and work well, by April 2024. In her stirring response, Health Minister Michel called on the federal public health agency to begin rolling out the report’s recommendations immediately. Last October, Mark Holland called for an expert review of the task force’s operations, which was subsequently suspended in early March this year.
The workgroup released guidelines earlier this year for routine breast cancer screenings. They suggest beginning at age 50 and ending at age 74. It did allow for the possibility that younger women could seek mammograms if they had a clear discussion about risks and benefits. The revisions are meant to clear a sizeable backlog of guidelines, which has come under fire in recent months for holding up outdated guidelines.
Jennie Dale, Executive Director of the coalition charged with implementing these recommendations, shared these encouraging findings with the external review panel. She noted that the new expert panel’s recommendations could lead to a transformative approach in developing screening guidelines that reflect current evidence and cater to diverse Canadian populations.
“The expert panel’s recommendations set out a new direction for developing screening guidelines which reflect the latest evidence and are responsive to the needs of Canadians from all backgrounds.” – Jennie Dale
Andrea Seale, CEO of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, said she was hopeful the reforms would come. She stated, “This report reflects opportunities raised by many caring people and organizations who all share a common goal of making Canadians healthier and we’re very hopeful for the future.” This motivation highlights the joint work that was required to meet the urgent demand for new health guidelines.
These issues were further exacerbated by the structure of the previous task force, according to the report. In particular, it raised red flags over the sometimes exasperating lack of engagement by specialized physicians who diagnose and treat breast cancer.
“Heard concerns that physicians with expertise in diagnosing and managing specific diseases were not consistently included in the task force’s work,” – The report
The COVID-19 pandemic only underscored the need for timely, real-world, evidence-based changes to become standard health care practice. As noted in the report, it demonstrated “the importance of timely, evidence-based updates and highlighted the value of real-time synthesis and international collaboration in adapting to rapidly changing conditions and evidence.”
As this task force plans its relaunch, it will be under close scrutiny over the decisions it made in the past. In May 2024, it had come under fire for rejecting expert advice to lower the age for breast cancer screenings. The new recommendations are finally available for public comment. It’s as important as ever for the federal government to get these reforms right and implemented quickly.
