2 December1999

To the Honourable Mr. Lynn Meyers, Chair,
House Standing Committee on Health and its Honourable Members.
The Parliament,
Government of Canada

Honourable Members of Parliament:

I am honoured to be able to address the Committee this morning as it discusses the merits of Bill C 13 and the establishment of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.  My interest in this Bill come from 31years as an active and federally-funded basic science researcher in vision health in Canada, and my current positions as   Vice President of the Vision Health Research Council of Canada (VHRC) Director of the Vision Science Research Program at the Toronto Western Hospital  Professor of Ophthalmology at the University of Toronto and Director of Ophthalmology Research. Professor of Psychology and Biology at York University and a founding member of its Centre for Vision Research

The Vision Health Research Council (web page: VHRC.NET) is a private organization of vision health professionals and scientists from across the country who share an interest in improving vision health research.  Its President is Dr. Jean Real Brunette, a distinguished ophthalmologist from Sherbrooke, Quebec, and its board of directors includes optometrists, ophthalmologists, basic scientists and  representatives from industry, charitable, and professional organizations.  It is the only such organization in Canada and I am authorized to speak on its behalf.

We enthusiastically support Bill C-13 and all of its ramifications.  While our support is general, the Committee should understand that our examples of the reasons for support come from the area of science and health care that we know the best, that is, vision and eye research and health care.

The CIHR's mandate includes: to excel in the creation of new knowledge and its translation into improved health for Canadians.  It is clear to us that the vision health of Canadians can be improved through a CIHR by:

1. Improved funding of basic and translational research.  The funding for vision health is about $14 million per annum across Canada.  This is very small amount: the USA funds vision health research federally through the National Eye Institute of the National Institutes of Health.  Its current budget is US$400 million or about CDN$600 million.  At the usual Canadian/USA comparison ratio of 1/10 it suggests CDN$60  million would make us comparable.  The enhanced budget for the CIHR will address these discrepancies in vision health research as well as all the other areas of health research that have suffered from years of underfunding.
2. Development of research capacity and encouraging interdisciplinary research.  The VHRC has identified almost 300 basic and clincial researchers in vision science across Canada.  These scientists are scattered in many different departments and institutions and in many cases are already engaged in cross-discipline research.  Their number and the cross-fertilization, as well as reversing the "brain-drain," can only be improved by support of peer-reviewed excellence the CIHR will provide.
3. Addressing emerging health threats:  The aging population of Canada will lead to a crisis in vision health of its citizens if we do not act soon to ameliorate the underlying causes.  We cannot do anything about growing older - but we must do something about the increased risks of glaucoma, macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathies (especially
   prevalent in our Native Canadians) - amongst other age-related causes of blindness and vision loss.  The Canadian National Institute for the Blind registers 10,000 new clients per annum, and that number will surely grow.  Targetting research in basic and clinical aspects of these and other blinding eye diseases, as well as educating our citizens about the needs for earlier diagnosis are aspects of the CIHR that will enhance the health of all Canadians.
4. International collaborations will be enhanced:  The Director of the National Eye Institute of the NIH has written us about the opportunities that collaboration through the  CIHR could provide.  Dr. Carl Kupfer, in the attached letter, describes: "...the enormous potential for contribution to the field of vision research and vigorous collaboration in achieving our common goals and objectives.  The benefits for the citizens of our two countries, and indeed those of the world, will be more rapid progress in alleviating the suffering caused by blindness and visual disability and improvement in visual health on a global scale."

In closing, though my examples were about the vision health of Canadians, the same arguments about benefits could be made for many other health areas.  The CIHR is a splendid example of a far-reaching vision for revitalizing health research in this country.  Its benefits will be felt (and seen) for generations to come.

Thank you for your attention and allowing me this opportunity to speak.

Respectfully submitted,

Martin J. Steinbach, Ph. D.,
Director, Vision Science Research, Toronto Western Research Institute.
Professor of Ophthalmology, University of Toronto.
Vice President, Vision Health Research Council of Canada

Attachment: Letter from Dr. Carl Kupfer, Director of the National Eye Institute of the U.S. National Institutes of Health