Close X
Monday, November 18, 2024
ADVT 
National

Focus on vulnerable communities, improve data sharing before next pandemic: report

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 16 Oct, 2024 10:18 AM
  • Focus on vulnerable communities, improve data sharing before next pandemic: report

An expert panel of doctors and researchers say Canada needs to learn from the COVID-19 pandemic and take action before the next health emergency strikes. 

One of the six experts, Dr. Fahad Razak, says most scientists believe it's "only a matter of time" before another global health crisis hits.

The panel's report, called "The Time to Act is Now," says disease surveillance, hospitalization data and research findings need to be communicated much more effectively between the provinces, the territories and the federal government. 

Razak, an internal medicine specialist at St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto, says it's critical to share evolving health information much more quickly with the public to build trust and combat the spread of disinformation.

The report says Canada also needs to address inequities among people who are hardest hit during emergencies, including people who are racialized, Indigenous communities, people who are homeless and residents of long-term care homes. 

It says more investment in research on how to better prioritize and support these groups, including addressing underlying health needs, is necessary. 

Canada also needs to create a single, permanent scientific advisory group — something that's been done in the U.K.— instead of trying to pull together that expertise in the middle of an epidemic, said Razak, who was the scientific director of the Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table.

"There's only so much that you can do in the middle of a crisis. People are desperate, infrastructure does not work as well when there's a crisis," he said in an interview on Tuesday. 

"A lot of what we saw globally when we compared (pandemic) responses suggests that the preparedness is the critical part.”

The report said the "absence of pre-existing emergency protocols for science advice in Canada caused significant delays" and better co-ordination was needed "within and across all levels of government."

Having scientific advisory groups federally and provincially communicating separately "resulted in multiple streams of advice," said the report, which was released on Friday. 

The report by the independent panel of experts was requested by Health Canada.

Razak said there were some aspects of Canada's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic to be proud of, including using wastewater surveillance to detect how much of the virus was present in communities. 

"We were one of the pioneering countries and we certainly advanced it at scale beyond what many other countries were able to achieve," he said. 

But some provinces, including Ontario, have now made significant cuts to their wastewater surveillance programs, leaving many communities with "almost no data," Razak said.  

 

MORE National ARTICLES

B.C. health minister says system needs change

B.C. health minister says system needs change
Dix spoke in Whistler today at the Union of B.C. Municipalities, an annual meeting of municipal politicians, during a plenary on health care. He says the pandemic has seen primary care transition to a disproportionately digital system, creating challenges alongside crises in paramedic services, nursing staffing levels and other areas.

B.C. health minister says system needs change

Man charged after allegedly stealing a vehicle that was for sale by owner

Man charged after allegedly stealing a vehicle that was for sale by owner
22-year-old Muhammad Mehran Ali of Delta has been charged with dangerous operation of a motor vehicle, flight from police, possession of property obtained by a crime, carrying a concealed weapon, fail to comply with probation order and prohibited driving under the Motor Vehicle Act.   

Man charged after allegedly stealing a vehicle that was for sale by owner

Provinces scramble after Trudeau declares holiday

Provinces scramble after Trudeau declares holiday
While the announcement signalled that federal workers would get a day off on Sept. 19, the day of the Queen's state funeral and of commemorative events across the country, provinces had to work out the details for other workplaces, including schools, with less than a week's notice.

Provinces scramble after Trudeau declares holiday

B.C. study says 80% of kids, youth have had COVID

B.C. study says 80% of kids, youth have had COVID
The study, which lists Dr. Bonnie Henry among 13 authors, says that in contrast, 60 to 70 per cent of adults aged 20 to 59 and about 40 per cent of those aged 60 and over have been infected. The preprint study, which has not been peer-reviewed, was published online on Sept. 9 and says a series of surveillance reports of infections were understating the actual levels of infection by 92 times.

B.C. study says 80% of kids, youth have had COVID

Most Canadians indifferent to monarchy: poll

Most Canadians indifferent to monarchy: poll
The poll from Leger and the Association of Canadian Studies also found that while some Canadians are happy about King Charles III taking the throne and others are not, most are largely indifferent to Canada’s new head of state.  

Most Canadians indifferent to monarchy: poll

Liberals announce cost-of-living help

Liberals announce cost-of-living help
Until now, the government has said it is helping through existing policies, such as child care agreements with the provinces and automatic annual increases to programs like the GST rebate and Canada Child Benefit, as well as 2021 budget promises to increase benefits for seniors and low-income workers.

Liberals announce cost-of-living help