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香蕉视频直播檚 香蕉视频直播渙nly a matter of time香蕉视频直播� before another global health crisis hits.
The panel香蕉视频直播檚 report, called 香蕉视频直播淭he Time to Act is Now,香蕉视频直播� 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香蕉视频直播檚 Hospital in Toronto, says it香蕉视频直播檚 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 香蕉视频直播� something that香蕉视频直播檚 been done in the U.K.香蕉视频直播� 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.
香蕉视频直播淭here香蕉视频直播檚 only so much that you can do in the middle of a crisis. People are desperate, infrastructure does not work as well when there香蕉视频直播檚 a crisis,香蕉视频直播� he said in an interview on Tuesday.
香蕉视频直播淎 lot of what we saw globally when we compared (pandemic) responses suggests that the preparedness is the critical part.香蕉视频直播�
The report said the 香蕉视频直播渁bsence of pre-existing emergency protocols for science advice in Canada caused significant delays香蕉视频直播� and better co-ordination was needed 香蕉视频直播渨ithin and across all levels of government.香蕉视频直播�
Having scientific advisory groups federally and provincially communicating separately 香蕉视频直播渞esulted in multiple streams of advice,香蕉视频直播� 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香蕉视频直播檚 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.
香蕉视频直播淲e were one of the pioneering countries and we certainly advanced it at scale beyond what many other countries were able to achieve,香蕉视频直播� he said.
But some provinces, including Ontario, have now made significant cuts to their wastewater surveillance programs, leaving many communities with 香蕉视频直播渁lmost no data,香蕉视频直播� Razak said.
