Letters, Oct. 10

Investing in adult vaccines

Last week, provincial and territorial health ministers held an emergency meeting on the looming expiration of federal health funding and the financial pressures facing health systems across the country.

As they gather again in Winnipeg later this month, there is a critical piece missing from the conversation — prevention.

Canada has a strong public-health tradition, but its gains cannot be taken for granted. In 2021, Canada reported zero measles cases. By 2025, more than 5,400 cases had been reported, costing Canada its measles elimination status and Manitoba saw this firsthand.

With vaccine uptake declining and with hesitancy and misinformation growing substantially south of our border, we must reaffirm our commitment to evidence-based prevention throughout the lifespan. Adult immunization is an important part of this equation, but also where the commitment is currently at its weakest.

While childhood vaccination programs are well-established across Canada, access to recommended vaccines for adults remains inconsistent. Whether you are protected depends on your postal code and your ability to pay. This gap is costly, and particularly concerning as Canada faces rising health-care demand, an aging population and continued fiscal pressure.

As health ministers are asking how we can make our health systems more sustainable and affordable, preventing illness before it requires a hospital bed or other health-care services should be part of the answer.

Evidence commissioned by the Adult Vaccine Alliance found that six adult vaccines generate approximately $514 million in annual health-system value. This includes an estimated $410 million in averted hospitalization costs, $54 million in averted outpatient costs and $49 million in averted long-term health-care costs.

The return extends well beyond the health system. For every dollar invested in adult vaccination, Canada realizes an estimated $3.41 in health-care savings and broader economic benefits. That is a return of more than three to one and it generates over $2.5 billion in total value annually.

At a time when every health-care dollar matters, prevention should not be viewed as an added expense.

It is part of the solution, especially when its value can be realized within the same fiscal year. The Adult Vaccine Alliance is calling on health ministers to commit to a pan-Canadian strategy that achieves universal access to six adult vaccines recommended by the National Advisory Committee on Immunization by 2035.

As ministers meet in Winnipeg, adult immunization is the missing piece of this conversation and one of the smartest and most strategic economic investments they can make towards sustainable health systems.

Dr. Shelita Dattani

Winnipeg

A deserved Nobel win

Re: Canadian master of esoterica wins Nobel (Sept 9, 2026)

Congratulations to Anne Carson, who so deservedly won the Nobel Prize in Literature.

In the report by the Canadian Press, Prime Minister Mark Carney rightly calls her win “a proud moment for Canada.”

I wholeheartedly agree. What I don’t understand is why he would post his message on X. That same day, it was widely reported that X’s controversial owner, Elon Musk, encouraged Quebec, Alberta and Saskatchewan to separate from Canada.

Why do so many of our government leaders (Premier Kinew among them) have no problem using X to communicate with the public? It is X’s owner who took a chainsaw to many of the U.S. government’s critical agencies, who actively supports far-right parties (e.g., the Alternative für Deutschland in Germany, the U.K.’s Reform Party) and who campaigned for Viktor Orban, Hungary’s former populist/authoritarian leader.

It’s time “elbows up” includes refusing to engage with the social-media platform owned by the most problematic of America’s tech-billionaires.

Gareth Neufeld

Winnipeg

Mobility support will ease pressure

Re: New beds fill gaps, won’t fix health-care woes (Oct. 9)

There are no doubt folks essentially being forced to live in the hospital because government benefits are not meeting their needs. Manitoba employment and income assistance, community living disability services, etc., ought to recognize that a one-time purchase of a mobility support aid or prescription will, more likely than not, cost less than extended hospital stays.

Greater flexibility for health-care equipment and financial support will allow folks to safely live at home, enhancing their dignity and health along with protecting scarce hospital resources.

Vicky Cloutis

Winnipeg

Sharing a beef

Several years ago, the Canada Food Guide was updated to reflect a scientific truth: healthy eating means choosing more plant-based foods. This landmark change was the result of a process that intentionally rejected heavy lobbying from Big Meat and Big Dairy.

Yet, the Manitoba government continues to cater to the animal agriculture industry — literally, at the recent annual lunch for Manitoba Beef Producers — announcing it will fund a new RCMP position to combat livestock theft and eventually a more substantial livestock inspection program in Manitoba. This is on top of the millions in annual government subsidies already propping up the beef industry.

Last I checked, there are no luncheons at the legislature for the plant-based protein industry, nor for animal advocacy organizations. And these forward-thinking groups certainly don’t enjoy the steady, generous financial support from the government afforded to the meat and dairy industries.

Manitoba taxpayers must ask themselves if our tax dollars should be spent keeping animal agriculture afloat when we know it’s not healthy — not for us nor the animals, to say nothing of the climate and environment.

I do believe the government should be funding meat and dairy producers — to help them transition to plant-based food production. If our elected leaders won’t invest in the future, who will?

Tracy Groenewegen

Winnipeg

No ride-share refunds

Re: ‘Fraud, plain and simple’: MPI (Oct. 9)

Seems to me there’s a simple solution to this fraud: no refunds on vehicle-for-hire MPI insurance.

Whatever the frequency is for ride-share companies to check and re-check the insurance status of their drivers, that’s what the coverage period should be (or one year, like most policies), with no refunds.

The honest drivers will earn it back over the time frame, the crooks will be less likely to try.

Dan Bielak

Winnipeg