Dr. Graham Sher


On behalf of all of our employees at Canadian Blood Services, as well as the many donors, volunteers and countless individuals whose lives have been touched by Canada’s national blood system, it’s my privilege to offer you our collective thanks.

Having spent the last two decades rebuilding Canada’s blood system and regaining the trust of Canadians in this critical part of the health fabric of the country, Canadian Blood Services feels compelled to respond to Anne Kingston’s article.

Canadian Blood Services is pleased to share that our CEO, Graham Sher, MD, PhD, has been recognized by his peers as one of Canada’s most powerful doctors. The announcement was made in the September 15, 2015 edition of The Medical Post, a publication of the Canadian Heathcare Network. Dr. Sher is described as being at the helm of Canadian Blood Services for more than a decade and helping to create one of the world’s safest blood systems. He has led a variety of initiatives to help improve Canada’s organ and tissue donation and transplantation system; advocated that policymakers tap into our

National Post, Toronto ON — Imagine having to choose between putting food on the table or buying necessary medication. Research suggests this is the case for one in 10 Canadians who can’t afford to fill their prescriptions. Canada is the only country with universal health care that does not also have universal drug coverage. Even for those who do have private or public drug coverage, there are discrepancies in what and who is covered from province to province. Canadians also pay more for drugs than citizens in almost any other Western nation. These are just a few of the arguments that have

Through remarkable advances in transplantation, organ donation saves and improves lives and is cost effective. However, Canada’s organ donation record is mediocre, with less than half the donation rates of leading countries. One-third of Canadians who need a transplant will never receive one. While Canada has seen modest improvements over the past decade, the Canadian Institute for Health Information’s recent report, Deceased Organ Donor Potential in Canada, reveals that there is a large and troubling gap between the number of people who could be organ donors and the number who actually donate