“Mental health has been left out of the publicly insured framework not because of evidence but because of historic decisions fueled by misinformation, fear and prejudice and by squabbles over jurisdiction”

OTTAWA—The Trudeau government is being urged to make mental health a top priority as it negotiates a new health accord with the provinces and territories. Dr. Catherine Zahn, president of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, says mental illness afflicts some 6.7 million Canadians — roughly 20 per cent of the population — and costs the economy an estimated $51 billion each year. That’s a bigger burden than is caused by cancer or infectious diseases, and yet Zahn says only about 7 per cent of the billions spent on health care in Canada goes to mental illness.  Read the rest of this article at The Toronto Star…