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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Free Viagra for troops could be on way out
OTTAWA -- There could soon be less spring in the steps of those at National Defence as the department considers halting the decade-long practice of distributing free Viagra to the troops.
Also under consideration is the cancellation of taxpayer-funded transgender medical procedures for members of the military.
Defence sources say both programs -- worth more than $2 million a year -- have been offered up for elimination by the department twice in the last two years as part of the strategic review process and the departmental spending review.
The suggestions were rejected once, but are now back under consideration as part of the $1.5 billion in defence cuts mandated over three years as part of Finance Minister Jim Flaherty's March 29 budget, officials said.
A senior defence source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said decisions on the future of both programs will be made after the budget is formally adopted later this spring.
Asked whether either health initiative faced elimination, National Defence responded with a terse statement saying the military's health-services branch "is focusing on its core mandate" of providing high-quality care.
The statement noted the only cuts as part of the strategic review involved massage therapy and a health information line, but carefully left the door open to further reductions.
"Once changes to the Military Healthcare System are known, they will be communicated to all (Canadian Forces) personnel," said the written response.
Within government, officials have expressed concern for years about the rising cost of the wildly popular Viagra program, which saw members limited to six of the little blue pills a month -- at a cost of between $15 and $22 per pill.
The drug is used to treat erectile dysfunction in men.
When introduced in 2000, the government justified supplying the prescription wonder drug to troops as a health policy meant to ensure all soldiers were mentally fit and ready for the battlefield.
While serving members of the military might be cut off, ex-soldiers would not be affected, says a spokeswoman for Veterans Affairs, which in the past has spent more than $1.5 million a year on its program.
"Veterans Affairs Canada continues to cover Viagra for eligible veterans," Janice Summerby said in an email statement.
"Costs of prescription drugs (approved by Health Canada), including Viagra, are reimbursed to address a health need as prescribed by a health professional."
Getting the federal government to cover the cost was the result of years of lobbying by the War Amps of Canada in the late 1990s.
Both the U.S. and Australia have similar programs of passing out free pills to their soldiers.
-- The Canadian Press
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition April 28, 2012 A22
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