Skip to content
SOCI - Standing Committee

Social Affairs, Science and Technology

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 

David Braley
Catherine S. Callbeck
Andrée Champagne, P.C.
Jane Cordy
Jacques Demers
Lillian Eva Dyck
Nicole Eaton
Art Eggleton, P.C.
Yonah Martin
Pana Merchant
Kelvin Kenneth Ogilvie Judith Seidman


 
 
 
Molly Shinhat
Media Relations
613-995-1952
shinhm@sen.parl.gc.ca

Jessica Richardson
Committee Clerk
613-990-6087
richaj@sen.parl.gc.ca


 
 


Recommendations

Please note that these recommendations are best understood in the context of the reasoning presented in the body of the report. To locate the section of the report relevant to each recommendation, please see the page number in parentheses following the recommendation.

The Standing Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology recommends the following:

Recommendation 1

The committee therefore recommends that the Public Health Agency of Canada finalize the current Memoranda of Understanding, expand the number of issues addressed through this mechanism and work toward making them legally binding.

Recommendation 2

The committee therefore recommends that the Public Health Agency of Canada, in collaboration with the provinces and territories:

  • Revise the Canadian Pandemic Influenza Plan for the Health Sector to make it scalable to mild, moderate and severe pandemics as well as responsive and flexible as new information becomes available;
  • Implement regular and rigorous testing of the revised Canadian Pandemic Influenza Plan for the Health Sector; and,
  • Promote the active participation of all stakeholders.
Recommendation 3 The committee therefore recommends that the Government of Canada includes renewed funding for pandemic preparedness planning in its 2011 Budget.
Recommendation 4

The committee therefore recommends that the Public Health Agency of Canada:

  • Ensure that Annex K on communications is updated when the Canadian Pandemic Influenza Plan for the Health Sector is revised;
  • Collaborate with the provincial and territorial governments to clarify roles and responsibilities in regard to communications;
  • Study ways of communicating real-time policy decisions and ensuring harmonized messaging and in doing so, consult widely across Canada;
  • Develop and evaluate social media as another means of helping the public better manage their health , as it studies ways of ensuring harmonized messages; and,
  • launch aggressive public health campaigns that involve social media, which include, but are not limited to public health measures and vaccine safety and effectiveness.
Recommendation 5 The committee therefore recommends that the Public Health Agency of Canada's pandemic planning, with respect to communications, include specific requirements to define the pandemic in terms of severity of disease, not only the geographic spread, with the acknowledgement that this information can change depending on the evolving science.
Recommendation 6

The committee therefore recommends that the Public Health Agency of Canada encourage its provincial and territorial counterparts to:

  • explore ways in which they can strengthen two-way communications with health providers; and,
  • establish communications network for all health care providers through collaboration with their representative national associations.
Recommendation 7

The committee therefore recommends that the Government of Canada explore ways of ensuring that a backup supplier will add to Canada's ability to ensure vaccine supply in the event of a future influenza pandemic.

Recommendation 8

The committee therefore recommends that the Government of Canada, in collaboration with the provinces and territories, ensure that the next F/P/T contract for pandemic influenza vaccine, that is to be signed in 2011, includes a requirement that the supplier consult with the Public Health Agency of Canada when deciding on packaging formats and that the contract list the type and amount of consultation required.

Recommendation 9

The committee therefore recommends that the Government of Canada work with the provinces and territories to thoroughly test the logistics of implementing mass vaccination clinics, whether at community centres, schools, businesses, etc., particularly in a limited timeframe, with a view to determining the limits of this practice.

Recommendation 10

The committee therefore recommends that the Public Health Agency of Canada work with its provincial and territorial counterparts to fully develop and implement the public health surveillance IT application known as Panorama and that; Canada Health Infoway Inc. increase efforts to implement electronic health record systems across Canada.

Recommendation 11

The committee therefore recommends that the Public Health Agency of Canada monitor the status of the scope of practice of pharmacists and paramedics across Canada with a view to ensuring that they be included as a health care resource for prescribing antivirals and providing vaccinations during future influenza pandemics.

Recommendation 12

The committee therefore recommends that the Public Health Agency of Canada work with its provincial and territorial counterparts to urge them to establish linkages between health care systems in their respective jurisdictions, such as public, acute, clinical and primary care, with a view to improving the surge capacity of the public health system, including within hospitals, in times of emergency.

Recommendation 13

The committee therefore recommends that the Public Health Agency of Canada:

  • Consider the composition of the task groups within the Public Health Network structure with a view to including more health professionals;
  • Ensure that health professionals be actively involved in the tabletop exercises that test the Canadian Pandemic Influenza Plan for the Health Sector; and,
  • Recognize the importance of community preparedness, including clinics and major tertiary care hospitals and the valuable contribution by first responders.
Recommendation 14

The committee therefore recommends that the Public Health Agency of Canada strive to include in its revised Canadian Pandemic Influenza Plan for the Health Sector a formal collaboration between itself and provincial public health agencies in order to maximize resources and expertise in future pandemics.

Recommendation 15

The committee therefore recommends that Health Canada's First Nations and Inuit Health Branch work collaboratively with Indian and Northern Affairs Canada as well as the Public Health Agency of Canada to identify and address the conditions particular to on-reserve First Nations and Inuit communities such as overcrowding and poor access to clean water that make them vulnerable to communicable diseases, including pandemic influenza, and that this collaboration include measures to improve the public health infrastructure.

Recommendation 16

The committee therefore recommends that Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada consider including, in future revisions of the Canadian Pandemic Influenza Plan for the Health Sector, appropriate parameters and improved reporting systems for surveillance, data collection and analysis, as well as a centralized collection of best practices for aboriginal groups.

Recommendation 17

The committee therefore recommends that Health Canada's First Nations and Inuit Health Branch and the Public Health Agency of Canada initiate discussions with provincial and territorial governments and representatives from First Nation and Inuit organizations and communities with a view to clarifying the federal government's role in a public health emergency.

Recommendation 18

The committee therefore recommends that the Government of Canada ensure that future federal pandemic preparedness and response budgets provide dedicated and sustained funding for research.


 



Back to top