July 24, 2023 (Mississauga, ON) — Today, Food, Health & Consumer Products of Canada (FHCP) joins a growing collection of associations, governments, NGOs, and individuals in celebrating International Self-Care Day, an annual event spotlighting the benefits that effective self-care can bring to both individuals and healthcare systems as a vital foundation of health.
Self-care refers to any action that an individual takes to look after their own health, based on the knowledge and information available to them. The ability to actively manage one’s own health and well-being through self-care has numerous benefits, including better choice between healthcare options, better care for individual wellbeing, and better value for governments and health systems worldwide.
“Self-care is the first line of defense in public health emergencies like the COVID-19 pandemic and holds tremendous potential to reduce burdens on Canada’s publicly funded health care system, which is already stretched thin,” says FHCP CEO, Michael Graydon. “Unfortunately, our federal government continues to fall short of capturing the benefits of self-care.”
Since 2016, FHCP has been working with government on the development of the Self-Care Framework (the Framework): a sound, risk-based regulatory framework for the non-prescription medicines (OTCs), natural health products (NHPs), and cosmetics that Canadians rely on. After nearly a decade of consultation, Health Canada has delayed finalizing the Framework, most recently to 2025 or beyond, undermining the supply of OTCs and NHPs across the country by continuing to regulate these products within the prescription drug framework, resulting in backlogs for product authorization and manufacturing licenses and ultimately threatening product availability.
In 2021, a study conducted by Abacus Data found the majority of Canadians think emergency room wait-times, access to family doctors, and overall capacity of the publicly-funded healthcare system are unacceptable and expect health spending to increase over the next decade. Additionally, 93% of Canadians support a national self-care strategy to help Canadians take better care of themselves.
Today and every day, we urge the federal government to revise their approach and accelerate the conclusion of the remaining elements of the Framework, as well as urgently implement a National Self-Care Strategy to improve health literacy among Canadians and strengthen the consumer health product sector. Our recently released Self-Care Blueprint lays the foundation for this important work.
To find resources on health literacy and the other six pillars of self-care, please visit selfcare.ca.
ABOUT INTERNATIONAL SELF-CARE DAY
International Self-Care Day is a worldwide campaign held annually on July 24 (7/24) as a reminder that the benefits of self-care are experienced 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It celebrates the importance of self-care and encourages the public to practice responsible self-care.
ABOUT FHCP
FHCP is the voice of Canada’s leading food, health, and consumer products manufacturers. Our industry employs more people than any other manufacturing sector in Canada, across businesses of all sizes that manufacture and distribute the safe, high-quality products at the heart of healthy homes, healthy communities, and a healthy Canada. Learn more at OnEveryShelf.ca.