Alberta is not a very good place to live if you have a skin disease.

That's according to the Canadian Skin Patient Alliance, which has released a report card on access to dermatology care and treatment in our country.

A major problem here, according to Allan Stordy, President and Chair of the CSPA board, is a lack of specialists.  "According to the provincial billing data from 2009-2010, there were 48 full-time medical dermatologists practicing in Alberta, with a ratio of one dermatologist for every almost 84-thousand Albertans, and that exceeds the CSPA bench-mark of one dermatologist for every 65-thousand (people)."

Stordy, who has psoriasis, believes skin problems fly under the radar, as they are often hidden.  "So what you do is you stay covered up, and you avoid places where your skin may be exposed and you have to think about that every day," he insists.  "You have to think about, if you go to an engagement, or you go to an event where you may be exposed, you have to think about how you're going to get out of that, or how you're going to avoid that."

Stordy also points out that we've reduced the number of photo-therapy clinics, which are commonly used in skin treatments.  He also wants to see better coverage of drugs to treat skin diseases. (mb,bd)

On The Net:

Candian Skin Patient Alliance Report Card