Mark Fontes, ND, and Shawn O’Reilly
Dear Members,
We head into spring with optimism that, as a society and as a profession, we can move forward and regain some of the “normal” we had in our lives pre-pandemic. To begin with, we would like to inform our membership that Dr. Sandra Murphy, ND, and Dr. Rigo Kefferputz, ND, have stepped away from the CAND board to focus on practice and family. We are very thankful for their years of hard work as CAND Board Directors and their dedication to the profession. Thank you, Dr. Murphy and Dr. Kefferputz on behalf of the profession!
The CAND continues to engage with the federal government to ensure that the naturopathic profession is included in any ongoing COVID benefits and, as a member of the Public Health Agency of Canada’s Health and Allied Health Sector Table, to advocate for the use of natural products in the treatment of SARS-CoV-2. In 2022, the CAND is revisiting much of the government relations work we had implemented prior to the pandemic. We are currently engaged with Veterans Affairs Canada to have NDs added to their list of approved health-care professionals and with the Natural and Non-prescription Health Products Directorate (NNHPD) on the Proposed Self-Care Framework and improved labelling for Natural Health Products (NHPs). We are establishing relationships with the new senior staff and Ministers of Health and of Indigenous Services and will be participating in the upcoming consultation in conjunction with the review of the Cannabis Act.
We continue to be incredibly pleased with the success of our peer-reviewed, fully searchable online journal, the CANDJ. Launched on October 1, 2021, the CANDJ has over 2,400 readers, 2,300 abstract views, over 500 article downloads, and an engagement rate of 26% on social media platforms, Instagram and Twitter. Members may be interested to know that 66% of readers are Canadian, 20% are from the United States, and the remaining 14% are from the rest of the world. With the recent launch of subscriptions, the CANDJ is now available to individuals and organizations interested in furthering their knowledge of naturopathic medicine, both inside and outside the profession.
In November 2021, the CAND board held its second semi-annual planning session. At this weekend-long meeting, your Board of Directors and the CAND staff reviewed the successes and challenges of 2021 and discussed how we can improve on our efforts to serve and represent our membership across Canada in 2022. A thorough review of our financial statements was completed, and we are pleased to report that the CAND is in a very good position in terms of the funding needed to continue our work on the profession’s behalf. We thank each and every one of our members and corporate partners for their support of the CAND and the profession.
We have since had our first meeting of the New Year, in January 2022. We continue our work with our core customer groups based on newly established budgets and priorities for the year. In addition to this, work is already underway for Naturopathic Medicine Week (May 15–21, 2022). The CAND will continue to keep you updated on these projects and how we are supporting the profession. We look forward to seeing each other in person soon.
Dr. Mark Fontes, ND, is Chair of the Canadian Association of Naturopathic Doctors.
Shawn O’Reilly is Executive Director and Director of Government Relations of the Canadian Association of Naturopathic Doctors.
To cite: Fontes M, O'Reilly S. Update from the Canadian Association of Naturopathic Doctors. CAND Journal. 2022;29(1):3. https:/doi.org/10.54434/candj.
Received: 22 February 2022; Accepted: 23 February 2022; Published: 24 March 2022
© 2022 Canadian Association of Naturopathic Doctors. For permissions, please contact candj@cand.ca.
CAND Journal | Volume 29, No. 1, March 2022