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I must congratulate the response to the original article by our Norwegian, Swiss and Canadian authors, who seem to have nailed it. Canada is a very patronising society, with those who think they know, demanding of action, lest they think someone will be harmed.
I have always wondered whether much of this thinking stems from an often unconscious self-interest more than a deliberate attempt at manipulation. Demanding of adherence to guidelines or anything for that matter which is thought to be in someone's best interest, may often be an attempt in demanding a need for greater funding in dollar terms, all in the name of protecting and saving lives, which all helps to protect one's job. 'Saving lives' has a remarkable effect on those who disburse the monies for the requisite action to be taken, but it also helps mobilise and motivate those who have a very narrow self-interest.
Greater efforts should be spent on helping to change lifestyles in attempts at preventing colo-rectal cancer, rather than waiting to 'shut the stable door, after the horse has bolted'.
We work in a health service which demands funding, irrespective of the outcome, but the finite life of a patient cannot be worth an inestimable dollar figure, for that surely compromises the health of others, as resources are limited and must always be rationed. That is one of the ineluctable laws of nature.
We work in a health service that helps to medicalise patients without ensuring that we get the 'biggest bang for our buck'.
Do we adequately take into account, the morbidity, and occasionally the mortality, which stems from screening and also the expense? Health systems must be sustainable, without which we impoverish ourselves, and thus make it even less likely that adequate screening systems can be implemented.
The residential schools system and the cultural genocide of our native/indigenous/first nations people, stemmed from a belief in the power of the state superseding that of the individual. And nothing much has changed, as is evident by worldwide claims of racism, stemming from an institutionalised ideal that some people are better than others.