WOMEN, INCOME AND HEALTH STUDY RELEASED TODAY

FEBRUARY 6, 2002 - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

WINNIPEG - Medicare reform needs to build on Canadian values plus the evidence coming out of a report like Women, Income and Health in Manitoba, spokeswomen from the Women's Health Clinic (WHC) told a news conference today.

"We should be looking at evidence-based decision-making," Madeline Boscoe, the WHC's advocacy coordinator, told 35 people at the WHC at noon. "Then we should build our changes on our Canadian values of mutual respect and caring. Health care is about compassion, and we have good suggestions in this report that can be used to improve our health care system."

The news conference focussed on the new study, which is part of a year-long awareness project funded by the WHC and federal government. It contains the latest poverty statistics for women in Manitoba - such as: 51% of senior women in Manitoba who live alone are poor; without their spouse's income, half of married women would live in poverty; and almost 70% of aboriginal women live well below the poverty line. A single mother with one child, working full-time at minimum wage, lives 43.4% below the poverty line. If she is married with two children and both spouses work full-time at minimum wage, the family lives 25% below the poverty line.

Barbara Wiktorowicz, the WHC's executive director, said the awareness campaign was being launched now to provide input into the debate on medicare reform and make both the public and policy-makers aware of what they can do to improve the situation for all women's health. "The WHC has been looking at how we can promote women's health," she said, "and we feel addressing the poverty issues is critical." Some suggestions made at the conference included: expanding medicare to include health benefits, such as dental care, a more comprehensive home care program, and prescription drugs; reducing income equality by increasing the minimum wage and social assistance rates; and making recreation programs free for those living in poverty.

The report, executive summary, brochure, and two fact sheets giving background and questions and answers about the report can all be found on the WHC's website. The material can also be ordered from the WHC at 3rd floor, 419 Graham Ave., Winnipeg, MB, R3C OM3. The questions and answers sheet also includes information on what some Manitoba community projects and regional health authorities are already doing to improve women's health services in their areas.

For more information, please check www.womenshealthclinic.org or contact:

• Gail Watson, Project Co-ordinator, WHC, Ph: (204) 947-2422, ext. 134;
  
• Barbara Wiktorowicz, Executive Director, WHC, Ph: (204) 947-1517, ext.102;
  
• Madeline Boscoe, Advocacy Co-ordinator, WHC, Ph: (204) 947-2422, ext.122.

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