Conservatives miss H1N1 peak by ignoring evidence

Published on November 10, 2009

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OTTAWA - As Canadians grow increasingly concerned that they won’t be vaccinated until well after the peak of the H1N1 flu, Liberal MPs said poor pandemic planning by the Conservatives has put public health at risk.

“Almost all cases of flu being diagnosed now are H1N1,” said Liberal Health Critic Dr. Carolyn Bennett. “With the peak yet to come, we are calling upon the government to get much need resources to local public health authorities to help them deliver the H1N1 vaccine as quickly as possible as it arrives.”

Ontario’s former chief medical officer of health, Dr. Richard Schabas, has observed that the Conservatives ignored the evidence by putting seasonal flu vaccine production ahead of H1N1 flu vaccine production.  With almost all cases of flu being reported being H1N1 and not seasonal flu, six weeks have been lost that could have been used to produce and deliver H1N1 vaccine ahead of the late November peak, instead of the government’s new Christmas target.

“Absent delivery support to the provinces and a stepped up awareness campaign, all Canadians won’t be able to access vaccines before Christmas, while too many will opt not to – putting themselves and their families at risk,” said Dr. Kirsty Duncan, Liberal Public Health Critic.

Dr. Schabas’ comments reinforce a timeline of events that show how Conservative mismanagement led to a delayed H1N1 response.  The H1N1 timeline can be found here: http://www.liberal.ca/pdf/docs/101109timeline_e.pdf

“Canada has consistently fallen behind other countries in H1N1 readiness and awareness,” said Liberal MP Dr. Bernard Patry. “Putting seasonal flu ahead of H1N1 in planning is only the latest misstep.  The Conservatives must adopt the Liberal H1N1 opposition day motion to turn this pandemic fight around.”

Last week, the House of Commons adopted a Liberal motion calling for the allocation of the $400 million in pandemic response funds to help the provinces deliver vaccines to Canadians, plus additional planning support, and the diversion of partisan Economic Action Plan advertising funding towards a large-scale H1N1 awareness campaign.

“The Conservatives should respect the will of Parliament and take the necessary action to fix their mistakes,” concluded Dr. Patry.

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