How to better prepare for a next pandemic?

Experts welcome the report which was presented to the government to better prepare for a next pandemic.

Titled It’s time to actthe document was made public on the Health Canada website last week¹. Its authors, seven doctors from different universities, spoke with more than 300 people involved in the management of COVID-19 to issue their recommendations.

They discuss the need, in a crisis situation, to quickly produce scientific data on which the government can rely to make informed decisions; to ensure better coordination between the different decision-making levels – in consultation with scientists; to protect the most vulnerable populations (who have been most affected by the pandemic); to fund research…

In short, according to the authors, profound changes must take place so that we are better prepared in the event of a new pandemic.

​​The Press surveyed five players in the field, who examined the management of the health crisis, but who did not participate in the working group.

“This is an excellent summary of the challenges we faced,” comments the D^re Caroline Quach-Thanh, microbiologist-infectious disease specialist at CHU Sainte-Justine.

Same story with the D^re Kelley Lee, Canada Research Chair in Global Health Governance and professor at Simon Fraser University.

For the D^r Peter Singer, professor emeritus at the University of Toronto and former advisor to the director general of the World Health Organization (WHO), the document highlights dysfunctions in the workings of the system, which have had repercussions at a higher level.

“It’s a bit like the plumbing in a house: if it doesn’t work well, you can have big problems! », says the D^r Peter Singer.

Downsides

If, overall, the experts interviewed by The Press welcome this publication, some have noted some shortcomings.

For Normand Mousseau, professor of physics at the University of Montreal and author of the essay Pandemic, when reason falls ill“all these recommendations are quite general”. “It’s apple pie,” he adds.

Mr. Mousseau deplores that certain strategies presented as solutions have not been quantified. For example, the number of lives that could have been saved if Ottawa had acted differently.

Also, the report does not explore the direct measures that have been put in place – such as vaccines, confinement or even border closures.

“We should have done a much more detailed analysis of what we did well or poorly during the pandemic, in order to make more specific and relevant recommendations,” maintains Mr. Mousseau.

For Kevin Bardosh, an anthropologist at the University of Washington School of Public Health, the impacts on society and individual freedoms have not been addressed in sufficient depth.

“During the pandemic, we created a society where the world was afraid, where we saw each other as potential dangers. It had serious consequences, which we are still suffering today,” he believes.

And now ?

According to all the experts interviewed by The Pressa question remains unanswered: will the federal government take the report’s conclusions into account, and if so, on what scale?

“I am curious to see how far the government will go in implementing these recommendations,” says the D^r Peter Singer.

Such documents concerning the management of a health crisis have already been published: in 1993 to deal with HIV, or even in 2003 to fight against SARS. Although some progress has been made since then, “many of the recommendations from the 2003 report remain important and are being echoed [ici] “, we indicate in that of 2024.

“The ball is now in the government’s court,” concludes the D^r Peter Singer.

The Press contacted Health Canada on Monday. As of Tuesday evening, the Ministry had not yet responded to our questions.

1. Consult the Health Canada report It’s time to act