posted
I should explain to you how the name Wall of Hope was coined. About one year ago two other CanLyme members and myself were tossing about the idea of holding a rally in Hope BC, which is the home of Dr Ernie Murakami. We planned on standing shoulder to shoulder to protest lack of treatment/treating doctors/decent testing etc in Canada. The component word Wall was the formation of a human wall, Hope for Dr Ernie's town in BC. Then we abandoned the idea of rallying in Hope and took it to the federal level and went to the Parliament in Ottawa instead.
We've made significant gains since our first Wall in Sep 07 in that we have federal and provincial governments coming to the table to speak with us, but we will not let up the pressure and are going to Winnipeg next as that is where the national microbiology lab for Canada is located (even tho we're actually demonstrating at the provincial legislature buildings because the Nat Lab is highly secure and low visibility).
Our biggest problem here is the lousy testing used which allows Health Canada to keep the numbers of cases artificially low. How does less than 100 cases per year in Canada grab ya? This compared to well over 20,000 annually in the US...well we think the correct number would be about 1/10th of the US cases = 2,000, this based on population.
However, I digress...as usual..sorry,
you asked about cases/states etc and I'm not quite sure what you meant by that but we plan to also have photos of Lymies who are unable to attend, either on banners or individually carried by those who are attending. The photos can be incognito or not and will show the person's first name and province (or state as is the case).
We're keeping it basically simple: demanding better testing and demanding that IGeneX and other accredited US lab results be acceptable in Canada (which at present they are NOT!!) if you can believe it.
We've got them at the table and we have to keep up the pressure, the squeaky wheel, if you will.
[ 14. April 2008, 01:12 PM: Message edited by: Mary J ]
Posts: 267 | From Abbotsford BC | Registered: Jul 2003
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Tincup
Honored Contributor (10K+ posts)
Member # 5829
posted
Mary J...
This is a WONDERFUL idea! I am sitting here going.. "wow".... wow".
Good for you all!!
And sucky testing is right. This is something I am completely insane about. How can this GARBAGE be on the market?
Just for YOUR benefit... check out the CDC figures for Lyme in our state of Georgia.
posted
Thank you for your support, Tincup. I'll post more here before and after the event.
We're well aware of what's going on in your CDC Atlanta and it directly affects how our National Microbiology Lab in Winnipeg does things.
The new faulty IDSA guidelines were blindly adopted by our CDC and that seems to be our wedge in all of this. It's getting certain provincial Ministers attention and we've got them at the table!
CanLyme has many things on the go right now which are being kept quiet for the time being so cross your fingers!
We'll make them change things yet, it's only a matter of time..
Mary
Posts: 267 | From Abbotsford BC | Registered: Jul 2003
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Tincup
Honored Contributor (10K+ posts)
Member # 5829
posted
You said..
"CanLyme has many things on the go right now which are being kept quiet for the time being so cross your fingers!"
I want to salute you all up there. You are making progress and getting it done. I've always been impressed with your hard work!
Keep it up!
BTW- I know several docs and patients in the USA who use your site on a regular basis and love it!
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