Appearing before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Health on H1N1 flu virus

Speaking Notes

for

The Hon. Leona Aglukkaq

Minister of Health

for an appearance before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Health

Wednesday August 12th, 2009

Good afternoon Madame Chair and Members of the Committee.

As always, it's a pleasure to be here with officials to provide an update on activities taken to date by the Public Health Agency of Canada and Health Canada to address the challenges presented by the H1N1 flu virus outbreak.

Appearing with me today are:

• Chief Public Health Officer, Doctor David Butler-Jones, and
• Shelagh Jane Woods from Health Canada 's First Nations and Inuit Health Branch.

I may turn to them to respond to technical matters during today's session.

Since the outset, I have stressed the importance of collaboration in every action taken to manage the outbreak on behalf of Canadians.

Our response has been supported by systematic, ongoing contact with the World Health Organization and other international partners.

Within our borders, we have made a concerted, coordinated effort to share information and lessons-learned with my provincial and territorial counterparts.

In my view, this collaboration reflects an unprecedented level and spirit of cooperation.

Experts and decision-makers from all jurisdictions and from the entire spectrum of public health management have come together to ensure appropriate and timely response to the outbreak.

I know there are critics out there who don't think we've done enough, fast enough, for enough people

But I am confident that the actions taken so far and the efforts we continue to make have and will serve Canadians well.

I take very seriously the commitment of my government to support all members of parliament in their duties to their constituents.

At my first appearance before this Committee in February, I indicated that it was my "intention to be open and to listen, to build effective relationships with stakeholders and colleagues, as well as with critics."

Having provided more than 20 briefings for opposition Members of Parliament since the outbreak, I think I've lived up to that commitment.

While the course of this pandemic may have been unexpected, we have demonstrated our ability to adapt quickly and effectively to rapidly changing events.

The federal government's influenza pandemic planning efforts have paid off.

This is a plan built on years of collaboration with provinces, territories, and the medical community.

As quickly as H1N1 hit Canada , we implemented our Plan.

One of the cornerstones of our pandemic planning is to make sure we're talking to Canadians.

In early May we launched the first of a multi-phased marketing campaign that saw print advertisements placed in daily and weekly newspapers across the country.

These ads reminded Canadians about appropriate infection prevention behaviours.

They were supplemented by information on the PHAC web site, posters at Canadian airports and transit ads in major Canadian cities.

It's why more and more Canadians are getting the message - cough into your sleeve, wash your hands regularly, clean common surfaces and stay home if you feel sick.

You will continue to hear these messages and more as we move into the fall and the next flu season.

The marketing efforts will continue to ensure Canadians have the information they need to make informed decisions to protect themselves and their families.

When the outbreak began I held daily news conferences with the Chief Public Health Officer.

As the days passed and we came to learn that the severity was milder than first anticipated, we continued with weekly news briefings - including the one we just held a couple of hours ago.

We are committed to ensuring Canadians have the information they need.

I seem to have used the words collaboration, cooperation and coordination to the extreme in my comments today.

But I am convinced that these characteristics are critical to our continued success in managing a possible, more severe wave of the H1N1 flu virus in the Fall.

As Prime Minister Harper and Presidents Obama and Calderon made clear this week in Mexico :

"We will remain vigilant and commit ourselves to continued and deepened cooperation. We will work together to learn from recent experiences and prepare North America for the upcoming influenza season."

Certainly, this applies to our efforts at home, with provinces, territories, frontline medical professionals and First Nations and Inuit leaders.

No matter what comes our way this Fall we are well-prepared.

Already we have seen pockets of mild severity.

This has included outbreaks in a small number of First Nations and remote communities.

From day one, we have been working with First Nations leaders and provinces to ensure that communities have everything they need in a timely manner, based on the best public health advice.

It's important for me to make clear for you all today that pandemic planning for First Nations communities is a shared responsibility.

For example, Health Canada provides basic nursing services on-reserve.

However, First Nations needing treatment for severe H1N1 symptoms receive hospital services through their provincial health system.

This arrangement calls upon all governments to cooperate to protect the health of communities.

This is why we are committed to maintaining and improving our strong working relationships with provinces and First Nations to ensure all Canadians receive the care they need, when they need it.

And of course, we're committed to making sure First Nations have the support they need to protect their communities.

As a result, we're providing all nursing stations in First Nations communities with additional protective medical supplies such as gloves, gowns and masks.

We're pre-positioning antivirals, so if they're needed in a remote community, they can be accessed as quickly as possible.

As we did in response to the situation in northern Manitoba , we're prepared to re-allocate nurses to where needs are greatest.

In addition, we're training homecare nurses to be ready to administer the vaccine once it's available.

We're continuing to assist communities to complete and test their pandemic plans.

And thanks to support from Indian and Northern Affairs, we're working to deliver supplies of water to communities to help prevent and control infections in homes on reserve.

Moving into the Fall, we are increasing efforts to make sure H1N1 and seasonal flu vaccines get those Canadians who want and need it most.

Last week, I announced the federal government's intention to purchase 50.4 million doses of the H1N1 vaccine from GlaxoSmithKline.

This will be enough to cover the needs of Canadians.

GSK is on track to deliver the vaccine doses, as planned, by mid-November.

In closing, I want to emphasize, yet again, my ongoing commitment to collaboration, transparency and communication.

These are the tools that will enable us to work best with our partners, internationally and domestically.

Thank you. I understand Dr. Butler-Jones will now make some brief remarks, after which I'd be happy to take any questions.