(Montreal) The Montreal Sun Youth organization is sounding the alarm, as high inflation is forcing many households to make difficult choices.
Posted at 12:37 p.m.
In addition, with the winter cold spells, “people have used more electricity for heating, not to mention the housing crisis in Montreal, where the majority of rents are beyond the means of the clientele, the agency’s director of emergency services, Eric Kingsley, said in a press release. Adding the cost of gasoline, people are hit very hard. »
In a telephone interview, he added that “we see it at the grocery store, the money goes less far, the family budget, it doesn’t have as much impact. People no longer have as much leeway to add an expense like a drug”.
Sun Youth recalls that since the beginning of the year alone, “more than 10,000 people have used the help” it provides, whether to eat, buy medicine, get warm, get dressed or answer to other necessities. Among them, 16% had an employment income, however, double what we saw at the same time last year.
Meal or pill?
Pharmacist Aleck Brodeur, owner of a Familiprix in Montreal East, is at the forefront of this crisis.
“Many patients cannot afford certain drugs whose prices are regulated by the RAMQ (Régie de l’assurance maladie du Québec), he testified in the press release. No one should be in a position where they have to decide between eating or taking their medication, or even which medications to take and which to skip. Stopping treatment often results in going to the hospital”.
Sun Youth sees Montrealers caught in this dilemma “almost every day,” said Kingsley. “Even if it’s one or two a day, at the end of the year, it ends up being 450 people we’ve helped. »
The assistance program makes it possible to pay for medication on a one-time basis. For those who must take a prescription for several months, the organization directs them to its food bank, which saves money that can then be used at the pharmacy.
People who need this support often “don’t yet have access to private insurance,” and are unemployed, Kingsley said. These are often “older people who no longer work, who are on public state insurance”.
“It is a great stress to be put in this position. […] making this choice to deprive oneself either of food or of medication is not favorable for anyone’s health. »
This article was produced with the financial support of the Meta Fellowships and The Canadian Press for News.