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Burnaby surgeons receive funding to serve trans community

Burnaby has been included on the list of publicly funded “gender-affirming lower surgeries” announced Friday morning within the province, as British Columbia becomes the first province in western Canada to offer these procedures next year.
transgender flag
Although strides have been made in gender-affirming surgery options, they're still difficult for people to access. This is a transgender Pride flag.

Burnaby has been included on the list of publicly funded “gender-affirming lower surgeries” announced Friday morning within the province, as British Columbia becomes the first province in western Canada to offer these procedures next year.

"The trans community has advocated over a number of years for improved access to care, including access to complex lower surgeries within B.C.," said Health Minister Adrian Dix, in a news release. "For those seeking lower surgery, people were required to travel to Montreal or to the U.S., resulting in additional medical risks associated with travelling long distance after surgery and in receiving follow-up care if there were complications."

Reconstructive gender-affirming surgeries will be available starting in 2019, said the province. In addition, trans people throughout the province now have improved access to publicly funded gender-affirming chest and breast surgeries. A total of 14 surgeons will provide these surgeries in Burnaby, Kamloops, Kelowna, Port Moody, Prince George, Vancouver and Victoria.

Previously, to receive publicly funded gender-affirming breast augmentation or chest construction procedures, people had to travel to Vancouver or Victoria, the province said. For those seeking lower surgery, people were required to travel to Montreal or out of the country.

"We are proud to be the first province in western Canada to provide these surgeries," said Dix. "While B.C. funded these surgeries, they weren't being delivered close to home and support systems, and that is what we are changing now. This is about bringing care closer to home and offering an enhanced, more efficient, cost-effective solution."

According to the government, the number of people travelling out of the province for lower surgeries has been steadily increasing each year, with approximately 100 people going outside of B.C. annually for care. Over 200 chest and breast surgeries are expected to take place throughout B.C. in the coming year.

Around per cent of the population identifies as trans, an umbrella term that describes a wide range of people whose gender differs from their assigned sex at birth, according to the province. In B.C., an estimated 46,000 people identify as trans or gender diverse.