SENATORS’ STATEMENTS — Vaccines
March 19, 2019
Honourable senators, I rise today to bring our awareness to a public health concern that has reached a tipping point globally and in our beloved country of Canada.
Throughout history, measles, diphtheria, polio and smallpox have devastated humankind. In Canada, they once killed hundreds of children annually. We know from the historical record that some families lost most, if not all, of their children to these highly contagious diseases.
Now the death rate from these terrible illnesses is almost zero. The reason for this is safe and effective vaccinations. They have saved lives, decreased suffering and reduced attendance on already overburdened health systems.
The recent resurgence of some of these diseases in Canada is extremely unsettling given the medical knowledge that we have that allows us to prevent these infections and eliminate outbreaks. As a senator and as a physician, I cannot sit idly by while this continues.
Canadians are thankful for the heroes of public health who educate us and work to prevent the devastations of the past. One such person is Dr. Noni MacDonald of Dalhousie University and the IWK Health Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia. I am honoured to call her a friend and colleague. Anyone who knows Noni has seen her passion for improving the health and well-being of children and youth. She is nationally and internationally renowned for her work on vaccines. She was the first female Dean of Medicine in Canada and a founding member of the Canadian Center for Vaccinology.
Canadians need leaders like Dr. MacDonald to help ensure that our use of vaccinations meets public health standards so as to guard the health of our most vulnerable citizens and not be put in peril by disinformation that is now widely promoted.
Honourable senators, today I hope to raise awareness in our chamber of the work of those who strive to improve the health and lives of Canadians, those who champion evidence-based medicine from bedside to policy. It is important during this time of disinformation about vaccines that we turn to our trusted heroes to guide us.
Dr. MacDonald continues her leadership by helping develop an updated global immunization plan. In Canada, we must ensure that we are leaders and not followers in this important work.
Honourable senators, I thank all our health professionals for their tireless pursuit of evidence-based health interventions and ask you to engage with me and other senators as we begin to develop strategies to ensure that the health and safety of Canadians does not continue to be put at risk.
Honourable senators, today I rise to speak to you about one of the top 10 threats to global health that we face in 2019, vaccine hesitancy — the growing reluctance or refusal to vaccinate when vaccines are readily available, which is threatening to reverse the progress that has been made in tackling vaccine-preventable diseases.
The concerns of the World Health Organization are supported by some very alarming figures. In 2018, the incidence of measles globally has jumped 50 per cent. Europe saw nearly 83,000 cases, the most in two decades. In that same period, the incidents increased by over 500 per cent in the United States, prompting congressional hearings to manage this growing public health threat.
In Canada, 19 cases of measles in the first eight weeks of this year.
Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer has voiced her concern over the re-emergence of vaccine-preventable diseases. I too am concerned and so should we all be.
Remember the polio outbreaks in the 1940s and the need for the iron lung that kept patients alive when their own paralyzed chest muscles prevented breathing? Remember that before the introduction of the measles vaccine in 1963, millions were infected, tens of thousands ended up in hospital, hundreds dead.
We have seen enormous success with the widespread use of vaccines. There has been a significant decrease in childhood death. Vaccines have prevented at least 10 million deaths between 2010 and 2015. Vaccines work because they protect individuals and communities. All of us, the healthy and the most vulnerable amongst us, benefit when Canadians are vaccinated.
Our emerging reality is that people are forgetting about the dangers of polio and measles. The spread of false information has led to the fear of the vaccine rather than — and more than — the fear of the disease.
A quarter of Canadians identify as vaccine hesitant and often actively delay vaccination, thereby risking the re-emergence of disease.
Efforts to educate and reassure people about vaccination are under siege. False and misleading information through social media and controversial campaigns such as the anti-vax billboards in Ontario these last months build resistance.
Honourable colleagues, vaccines are one of the greatest success stories in health care, yet today this success is threatened by uncertainty, fear, misinformation, and an erosion of public confidence.
Today I’m inviting you all to contribute to the dialogue that will determine how we as a Senate can best address this growing crisis. Thank you.
