Health funding
Canadian spending for health research and development fell $276 million to just over $6 billion in 2006, according to Statistics Canada. With the exception of a small spike in 2005, health research funding was essentially unchanged over the 5-year period ending in 2005, states the report Science Statistics: Estimates of Total Spending on Research and Development in the Health Field in Canada, 1997 to 2008. Spending intentions for 2008 are projected at $6.2 billion.
Youth cancer rates
The incidence of epithelial cancers is rising among young Canadians, largely as a result of more diagnoses of thyroid cancer among young women, according to the Canadian Cancer Society. Thyroid cancer rates among females aged 15–29 are 4 times that of male counterparts and account for 19% of all new cancer diagnoses in young women, states the report, Canadian Cancer Statistics 2009. That’s primarily attributable to improved diagnostic practices and imaging technologies, which allow doctors to better detect the cancer in its early stages.
Green card
Females aged 11–26 emmigrating to the United States must now be vaccinated against human papillomavirus before they can become permanent, legal residents. The requirement was recommended by an immunization advisory committee to the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, says Chris Rhatigan, a spokesperson for United States Citizenship and Immigration Services. — Claire Biddiscombe, Ottawa, Ont.