Harper government ups investment into eHealth technologies

Canada’s Health Minister, Leona Aglukkaq, delivered the keynote speech at the 2013 e-Health: Accelerating Change conference in Ottawa today, where she announced new funding for ehealth technologies.

The funding announced today will support 16 new research projects.

Those endeavors include a Hamilton-based pilot study on family-centered e-health in pediatric weight management, an Edmonton-based project that will evaluate mental health e-screening in pregnant and postpartum women, and a Toronto-based controlled trial to bring virtual peer-to-peer support mentoring for adolescents with Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis.

The projects will receive between $95,918 and $100,000 each, for a total of $1,573,154.

Minister Aglukkaq said this funding was part of an ongoing commitment.

“Our Government continues to invest in and promote health care innovation to improve the health of Canadians and increase the efficiency of the health care system,” she said. “These research projects aim to develop products that empower patients, assist health care providers, and enable better population health monitoring.”

A study by U.K.-based research firm GSMA estimates that the global e-health market will grow to $160 billion in 2015, at an average growth rate of 12-16%.

More Cantech Life Sciences