On December 26, 2020, Ontario entered into another lockdown to combat the rising COVID-19 cases. As per the Government mandates, all unregulated health professionals must close their businesses.

As Manual Osteopathy is unregulated within Ontario, all manual osteopathic practitioners have had to close their businesses for now. The lockdown has left all patients without care for nearly a month. These patients rely on manual osteopathy to manage severe pain syndromes, visceral dysfunctions, and many other conditions that require careful attention.

Several professional associations promote osteopathy and maintain standards for safe and effective practice, along with a variety of other efforts. However, without one singular organization to lobby for the profession, the government will continue to overlook manual osteopathy.

This pandemic and the subsequent lockdowns have made it clear that regulation is a necessary next step for the profession. In Ontario, the Regulated Health Professions Act, 1991 (RHPA) and health profession Acts (i.e., Medicine Act, 1991) govern regulated health professions. The acts establish health regulatory colleges. Regulatory colleges are responsible for ensuring members provide health services in a safe, professional, and ethical manner. Furthermore, among other things, setting standards of practice and investigating complaints about members of the profession and, where appropriate, disciplining them.

To begin the process, we must unite together and request the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care ask the Health Professions Regulatory Advisory Council to undertake a review of Manual Osteopathy as a health profession.

For further reading on the regulation of health professions, please visit the links below!

http://www.health.gov.on.ca/en/pro/programs/hhrsd/about/regulated_professions.aspx

https://www.ontario.ca/laws/statute/91r18

https://www.hprac.org/en/reports/resources/RegulatingaNewProfession_CriteriaProcess_Nov2011.pdf