THE ZOOMER SQUAD: CARP CALLS ON BC GOVERNMENT FOR FREE RSV, SHINGLES VACCINES FOR ZOOMERS

Libby Znaimer is joined by Anthony Quinn, Chief Community Officer of CARP, Rudy Buttignol, President of CARP and John Wright, Executive Vice President of Maru Public Opinion.

It’s Monday - time for our Zoomer Squad and CARP is getting some traction on its campaign demanding government coverage for vaccines crucial to the health of older Canadians - like the RSV vaccine. The need to pay for those and for so much else is driving Zoomers back to work out of necessity rather than desire. And former Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz is looking into how the CPP and other pension funds can invest more here in Canada. Is that a good or bad idea?

NEW GUIDELINES FOR BREAST CANCER SCREENING

Libby Znaimer is now joined by Dr. Martin Yaffe, Senior Scientist at Sunnybrook Research Institute and Co-Director, Imaging Research Program at the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research as well as Siobhan Grennan, who was part of the Working Group for these updated guidelines for Breast Cancer Screening from the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health.

What is the right age to start screening women of average risk for breast cancer? That question has become the subject of controversy. In the US, the age was lowered from 50 to 40 and the CCS and quite a number of specialists recommended that we do the same here. However, the Canadian Task Force on Preventative Health Care, a group created by the federal government, has not lowered the recommended guideline. It cites the possible harms from both false positives and false negatives, among other reasons. And the current guideline to stop screening is 74. Given that women are living longer, is that just ageist?

UOFT PROFESSOR SAYS DEMANDS FOR A UNIVERSITY DIVESTMENT OF ISRAELI COMPANIES IS IMPOSSIBLE AND IMMORAL

Libby Znaimer is now joined by Rami Elitzur , a professor at the Rotman School of Management who is also a serving member on the University of Toronto Governing Council.

One of the key demands by the anti-Israel encampment on the UofT campus is for the university to divest from Israeli companies. But as Professor Elitzur explains, so many of the important technologies we rely on in our daily lives, including in high-tech and healthcare, have ties to Israeli companies.