Health

April Aleman tracks the Uber she ordered for her 82-year-old client as it makes its way to a public health building on a quiet street tucked away from the bustle of downtown Toronto.When the vehicle arrives, Aleman unpacks a walker from the trunk and greets the woman with a warm familiarity. She slows her pace to match her client's as they make their way into the clinic and approach the front desk."Hello, we have a dentist appointment," Aleman tells the receptionist while helping the woman rummage through her purse to find a health card.They sit side-by-side on plastic chairs in a near-empty waiting room, leaning towards each other to complete paperwork on a clipboard."Do you have an emergency contact you want to put down?" Aleman, a homeless outreach counsellor at St. Michael's Hospital, ...

Western Canada glaciers melting twice as fast as in previous decade, research says; Nigerian judge convicts man of sextorting B.C. teen who died by suicide; Overdose deaths tick up to 165 in April: B.C. Coroners Service; Her husband died after a lung transplant. Now she has to sell her home to pay the bills; Gaza health authorities say Israel kills 44 waiting for aid as war's death toll passes 56,000. Those are just a few of the news headlines from various outlets earlier this week — and they certainly don't paint the brightest picture of this world. And it's headlines like those that have led to an uptick in anxiety around global events, according to Kamloops, B.C.-based counsellor Kaci-Ann Phillips."More and more clients are naming economic and global uncertainty, political tensions, and...

Gov. Gen. Mary Simon has announced 83 appointments to the Order of Canada — a list that includes doctors, diplomats, athletes and authors.Simon's office announced two new companions — the highest level of the Order of Canada — 19 officers and 62 members, the introductory honour level in the order. One appointment is a promotion within the Order of Canada and another is an honorary appointment."We proudly recognize each of these individuals whose dedication and passion for service not only enrich our communities but also help shape the fabric of our nation," the Governor General said in a media statement."Together, they inspire us to strive for greatness and to foster a future filled with hope and possibility."Dr. Theresa Tam has been made a officer of the order for her commitment to public...

The last time Allen Kudlak saw his father Jacob was in August 1965. The pair hugged each other goodbye, then Allen boarded a float plane that brought him to residential school. After 60 years, he's finally had the chance to reunite with his father, who's buried near the Charles Camsell Hospital in Edmonton. Kudlak is part of a delegation of Nunavummiut this week who visited the hospital where, for decades, thousands of Indigenous people were sent for treatment during the tuberculosis epidemic that peaked from the 1940s to 1960s. During those years, some made it home; many, like Jacob, did not. Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. brought 49 Inuit from Nunavut's Kitikmeot region to the site as part of the Nanilavut initiative — a federal project dedicated to creating resources for those impacted by the e...

After at least 22 drownings in Quebec since the start of the year — including two at Montreal's Verdun Beach in recent weeks — the Quebec Lifesaving Society is renewing its calls for caution."Follow the instructions, that way you'll have stories to tell instead of tragedies to inflict on your loved ones," said executive director Raynald Hawkins.Recreational and sport swimming are the leading causes of the roughly 80 drownings in Quebec every year. And in half of those cases, the person is alone when it happens, he said.That's why one should never swim alone, he said. That way, if there's a problem, someone can call 911 or attempt a rescue.It's also crucial that people not overestimate their swimming ability, he said.Adam Di Fulvio, founder of Montreal Institute of Swimming, said people sho...

It was just a weird little mole. Jake MacDonald of Penticton, B.C., hadn't thought much of it, but when his grandmother noticed a mole on his left leg, she suggested he get it checked. "One of my moles was just a little bit weird in diameter," he told CBC's Radio West host Sarah Penton. "The borders were a little irregular as well. It just looked off."Heeding his loved one's advice, he saw a doctor soon after and learned he had melanoma — a form of skin cancer. "It was definitely a surprise."According to Melanoma Canada, melanoma rates have tripled in the past 30 years. The cancer is most commonly caused by overexposure to UV radiation from either the sun or artificial sources, like tanning beds. While MacDonald had the cancer removed and now has a clean bill of health, he recently launche...

After an Alberta judge granted a temporary injunction blocking a provincial law that would ban doctors from providing gender-affirming care to youth, Premier Danielle Smith said she intends to fight the decision in court."The court had said that they think that there will be irreparable harm if the law goes ahead. I feel the reverse," Smith said on her weekend radio program, Your Province, Your Premier, on Saturday, a day after Justice Allison Kuntz of the Alberta Court of King's Bench handed down a written judgment on Bill 26."We want to battle this out, and the way you do that is you go to the higher levels of court. If we were to impose the notwithstanding clause, everything would stop. We actually think that we've got a very solid case."WATCH | Alberta judge puts hold on transgender he...

Prince Edward Island's Chief Public Health Office has now identified 10 infants who will require medication to protect them against measles, given that they are too young to have been vaccinated.On Thursday, the office confirmed two new, unrelated cases of measles on P.E.I., with the people involved having been in public places while contagious.Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Heather Morrison said Friday that the infants who will need intravenous immunoglobulin, or intramuscular immunoglobulin in some of the cases, were identified overnight Thursday and early Friday. The immunoglobulin can prevent an infection or reduce the severity if one develops."We have 10 little babies that we're going to be able to offer this immunoglobulin to over the next couple of days, as well as a couple of immu...

Daryl Schroeder says he didn't let himself celebrate the fact that he was receiving a donated kidney until he was being anaesthetized on an operating table just over three weeks ago."Then I knew I was getting a kidney, and then I was going, 'Yay,'" Schroeder told CBC News on Friday.Schroeder, who was diagnosed with polycystic kidney failure about 3½ years ago, says his sisters and niece all tried to donate but weren't able to, as organ donors go through a rigourous screening process.He got the kidney from an old friend, Tim Froese. The 66-year-olds met in Grade 6 in the Manitoba town of Altona, but lost touch after graduating from high school nearly 50 years ago. They reconnected on Facebook after Schroeder's diagnosis."After our initial getting together, I just went, 'Well, let's at least...

An Alberta judge has put on hold a provincial law that bans doctors from providing gender-affirming care to youth.Justice Allison Kuntz, in a written judgment Friday, said the law raises serious issues that need to be hashed out in court, and issued a temporary injunction against the law before it fully came into effect.Kuntz wrote that a temporary stop is needed to prevent what she calls "irreparable harm" coming to young patients while the issue is debated."The evidence shows that singling out health care for gender diverse youth and making it subject to government control will cause irreparable harm to gender diverse youth by reinforcing the discrimination and prejudice that they are already subjected to," Kuntz wrote in the judgment.The law, passed late last year but not fully in effec...