QUEEN’S PARK—MPP Bobbi Ann Brady stood in the Legislature recently to call on the Ontario government to cover Prostate-Specific Antigen testing (PSA) through OHIP for men when referred for testing by a healthcare professional. Ontario is one of the few provinces in the country without free testing through a provincial health plan.
It currently costs about $42.50 to take the test. Many men don’t have those funds on hand. For over two years, Brady, with MPP Wayne Gates, has been asking the Ford government to cover this life-saving test.
The Canadian Cancer Society was on hand at Queen’s Park and made the same point.
“Many of us have just come from the Canadian Cancer Society’s reception where we heard from Dr. Anthony Dixon, a husband, father, a son, a brother, and an emergency physician. Anthony is also a (prostate) cancer survivor,” said Brady. “Anthony was lucky he had the means to pay for a (early) PSA test…. Not so long ago, Anthony treated a man in his ER with severe back pain. After several tests, it was found this man had advanced stages of cancer … spread from undiagnosed prostate cancer. When asked if he ever had a PSA test, the patient said he couldn’t afford one.”
Brady reminded her colleagues prostate cancer is the third-leading cause of cancer death among Canadian men and urged the government to prioritize the men in our lives because we want them around as long as possible.
“Members of this legislature heard the story this morning and you all know MPP Gates and I have motions on the table calling on this government to do the right thing, look at the evidence,” said Brady.
“This is not a political issue, it’s an issue of saving lives.”
