Adrian Dix, Minister of Health, has released the following statement on Public Health Week from April 3-7:

British Columbians will be the first in Canada to benefit from universal coverage of prescription contraceptives, beginning Saturday, April 1, 2023.

The Province is taking actions to ensure that diabetes patients in B.C. do not experience a shortage of the diabetes drug semaglutide (Ozempic) in an environment where surging demand in some jurisdictions is creating shortages.

People living in long-term-care and assisted-living facilities will continue receiving high-quality care from fairly compensated workers as the Province renews its commitment to temporarily fund wage increases for staff working in the sector.

The Province is taking steps to build safer workplaces for health-care workers and patients by introducing a new security model across all health authorities, hiring more protection services employees and expanding funding to SWITCH BC, a new organization focused on addressing workplace safety.

People accessing health care in Vancouver will benefit from more consistent, dedicated and supportive patient care as 309 housekeeping workers return to the public system as Providence Health Care (PHC) employees.

People accessing health care in the Lower Mainland will benefit from more stable, consistent and supportive patient care as 194 housekeeping and food-service workers return to the public system as Fraser Health employees.

People in B.C. now have an easier way to access their health records with the launch of the Health Gateway mobile app.