Hon. Pierrette Ringuette: Honourable senators, February is Age-related Macular Degeneration Awareness Month.

Age-related macular degeneration, or AMD, is an incurable disease that causes gradual loss of vision, blurred vision and distorted vision, and eventually dark spots in the vision and legal blindness. AMD causes the macula, the part of the retina responsible for detailed vision, to degrade.

AMD affects nearly 2 million Canadians and 196 million people around the world. It is the leading cause of loss of vision in adults over 50 and accounts for 90% of new cases of blindness in Canada. It is a serious problem that will only get worse as our population ages.

You very likely know someone with AMD, a disease that turns Canadians’ lives upside down and reduces their quality of life in retirement. Over time, people with AMD become unable to drive a car, read a book, participate in all kinds of sports and activities, or enjoy the comfortable and independent retirement they deserve after working so hard all their lives. They can no longer live in their own homes and are forced to move to a place where they will be cared for. This is a life-altering diagnosis, mainly because there is no cure.

Thanks to research being done in Canada, there is hope. A treatment is being developed, and clinical trials are encouraging. A new treatment is awaiting regulatory approval from Health Canada. It could have a significant positive impact on the millions of Canadians who suffer from AMD.

Please join me in raising awareness about AMD. Let’s support our fellow Canadians in their struggle, and let’s support the development and approval of treatments for this devastating disease.

Thank you.

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