The Progressive Conservative Party of P.E.I. says it will introduce a $5-million fund focused on women’s well-being if elected in the April 23 provincial election.
The fund is part of a women’s health strategy the PC party proposes that would address some issues identified by Health Canada related specifically to women’s health, such as patterns of illness, disease and mortality, as well as women’s interactions with the health-care system.
“When it comes to health, most of the research and analysis done in the past were studies carried out on mainly men. We recognize that women deserve to have research that’s undertaken on women – research that best reflects the work needed to address women’s health issues, like breast density and endometriosis,” said PC Leader Dennis King.
These initiatives will build on previously announced measures to strengthen women's health, including increased resources for fertility services.
King said the gaps in fertility services continue to negatively impact the needs and desires of many Island families.
“They incur significant out-of-pocket expenses and have to travel off-Island for treatments such as in-vitro fertilization (IVF),” he said. “More must be done to support fertility services here on Prince Edward Island.”
King promised a PC government would recruit a local fertility specialist, provide financial support for IVF treatments and direct Health P.E.I to examine fertility support services with a focus on integrating programming through the Women’s Health Centre.
