Canada communicable disease report = Relevé des maladies transmissibles au Canada
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Can. Commun. Dis. Rep. · Sep 2020
Vaccine Injury Compensation Programs: Rationale and an overview of the Québec program.
Vaccines are among the safest therapeutic agents, and serious adverse events rarely occur. When they do occur, an individual may have to bear some or all of the costs associated with their injuries, seek compensation through litigation or, if available, seek compensation from a publicly-supported Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VIC Programs). The VIC Programs are "no-fault" compensation schemes in which governments compensate individuals who are harmed by properly manufactured vaccines. ⋯ They all have similar processes with respect to process, standard of proof and elements of compensation. In Canada, only the province of Québec has a VIC Program, which has been running successfully since 1985. Concerns with VIC Programs include cost, difficulties assessing causality and concern that such programs may undermine public trust in vaccines; but these concerns can be addressed, especially in high-income countries that can bear the costs and have the capacity to manage the program.
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Can. Commun. Dis. Rep. · Sep 2020
Trends in pre-military sexually transmitted infections and associated risk behaviours in Canadian Armed Forces recruits.
Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) have historically been problematic for militaries. Recent reports indicating that rates of STIs among young male Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) members are higher than civilians prompted a need to better understand CAF members' reported rates of STIs and their behavioural risk factors for STIs. This study examined the prevalence of self-reported pre-military sexual behaviours (i.e. number of sexual partners and frequency of condom use) and history of a STI diagnosis among CAF recruits attending basic military training using data collected from the Recruit Health Questionnaire. ⋯ These observations provide an indication of the baseline, pre-enlistment STI risk behaviours, and STI history among CAF recruits, and may provide insight into avenues for targeted interventions and health promotion programming, such as education and screening initiatives.