Budget Funding for MedicAlert Will Protect 10,000 Canadian Children
OTTAWA, March 19, 2007 – Funding announced in today’s Federal Budget for the Canadian MedicAlert® Foundation’s No Child Without program will provide significant protection to Canadian children.
“Today’s Budget announcement will make an important difference for children with chronic or potentially serious medical conditions,” said Martin Kabat, President and CEO of MedicAlert. “The Government of Canada’s support will help the No Child Without program protect more than 10,000 Canadian children the next decade.”
“As most parents know, children with medical conditions are more at risk whenever they leave home. So parents are concerned about how their child will be able to communicate their medical condition in a crisis. No Child Without addresses that concern,” added Mr. Kabat.
Howard Berger, Chair of the Canadian MedicAlert® Foundation board, also commented that “Today’s Budget announcement should give parents more peace of mind because it moves us closer to our goal of bringing the No Child Without program to every student in every school across Canada.”
No Child Without focuses on children who suffer from what can be life-threatening allergies, such as peanut allergies, from childhood diabetes and from asthma. The program provides every child with a medical condition a bracelet that is designed to make critical information available in a medical emergency. Because the bracelet is linked to a 24 hour emergency hotline and an electronic medical record, parents and family can feel more secure about the welfare of their children when they are away from home.
Since launching the program last fall, MedicAlert has enrolled more than 150 schools across the country, and has demand from more than 1,000 schools on a waiting list. The program was developed in the spirit of Canadian Medicare to help every child regardless of their financial resources, with the goal of offering elementary aged students in every school in Canada free MedicAlert protection within five years.
Parents can obtain more information from www.medicalert.ca.
About the Canadian MedicAlert Foundation:
Operating nationally, MedicAlert is a member-based, registered charity with more than one million Canadian members. The Canadian MedicAlert Foundation has been the provider of emergency medical information services in Canada for more than 45 years. The Foundation’s services include electronic medical records, a state-of-the-art secure database, a 24-hour emergency hotline, and customized identification products that protect persons with chronic medical conditions or special medical needs. The foundation’s web site can be accessed at www.medicalert.ca.
For more information or to facilitate interviews, please contact:
Janine Allen
Veritas Communications
416-482-2248 X 248 / 416-456-1227
allen@veritascanada.com
