Robin Sears writes that the pandemic has exposed just how fragile our public healthcare system is:
The list of the collective failures would fill an entire page of this newspaper. The top four might be terrible communications, inconsistency and contradiction, duelling governments, and a lack of transparency. This could be widening the serious trust gap, as revealed by the annual Edelman Trust Barometer.
Our leaders have pledged that they are going to fix things:
Everyone pledged the lessons learned from our very shaky anti-COVID campaign — the revelation of how underfunded, understaffed and inefficient our health-case systems are — meant this time, we really were going to make the big changes needed.
B.C. Premier John Horgan, chair of the provinces-and-territories club the Council of the Federation, had marshalled by last fall a series of promising breakthroughs on health-care reform with most club members. Ottawa has slow-walked the discussions since. As one frustrated senior provincial official exclaimed, “Why would a Liberal prime minister not want to have as part of his legacy the first breakthrough in health care in a generation, for Pete’s sake?” Indeed.
And now we're facing another virus:
Even its name inspires dread: “monkeypox.” We know how close genetically we are to monkeys — a lot closer than bats! Any virus with “pox” in its name brings back memories of all the terrifying poxes that have plagued humanity. We had declared smallpox — monkeypox’s close cousin — exterminated. Now we wonder.
The new virus is partly associated, so far, with men who have sex with other men, reviving memories of another nightmare — HIV/AIDS. Not only in its killing potential, but the possible rise in stigma and shame once more. Some on the right are sure soon to revive the old hatreds for partisan gain, just as Reagan-era Republicans and others did a generation ago.
We share both a horror at this new enemy, but also a deep weariness about virus-fighting overall. Every time we approach the finish line, the goalposts get moved. How prepared are we now, after all our bitterly earned experience? Apparently, not very. The same opaque and changing communications from public health officials; the same tug of war about access to vaccines. Skeptical citizens wonder if “those guys really know what the hell they are doing,” as one friend said.
Canada’s chief public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam and her deputy Dr. Howard Ngoo may be great epidemiologists, but great communicators they will never be. They either need a persuasive Anthony Fauci-like spokesperson, or perhaps it’s time for them to hand on the baton. Public health has no exclusive minister in any Canadian government. Why? Health Canada and its provincial cousins have ignored, dismissed and treated it as a secondary health-care issue for decades.
There are national forums on many subsets of health-care issues, but not on public health. Why not? At the most basic level, most governments are ignorant of science itself. Ottawa briefly had an effective science minister a few years ago, Kirsty Duncan. The bureaucracy did in her and her ministry; few even noticed.
In public health systems and health care overall, real-time data sharing is still a pipe dream. How in God’s name can one urgently roll out best practices and important discoveries, if access to the data is buried in an annual report months later? A cliche loved by cynical Japanese people is: “We never learn from experience, we only learn from catastrophe.”
The catastrophe is upon us.
Image: Just Watch
11 comments:
The South Koreans also have a saying: Educated Koreans, educated Korea; Healthy Koreans, healthy Korea; Employed Koreans; employed Korea. They lived by it. Now, they have a Populist Conservative President who will not move into the Blue House (equivalent to the White House) for religious reasons. That is not good. We here in Canada, have a tremendous opportunity to improve this Country to the point where it truly would be admired by the world. But, the Masses must be kept in their place lest they do not want to work should they live a life of enough without health issues that cannot be attended to in due course. Anyong
The closer we move to plutocracy, Anyong, the closer we move to catastrophe.
Ottawa has slow-walked the discussions since.
Maybe because several provinces (Hello Mr Ford) have taken the money and run the last few times ?
I see the present provincial "concern" about health care funding as no more than a traditional money grab. Moe seems to be doing his best to privatize medicine.
I really do not think we want to appoint the Chief Public Health Officer of Canada on her media popularity ratings. For some bizarre reason I prefer competence. Tam seems to be doing okay with a seriously underfunded and, hence, under prepared agency.
I rather like Tam on her occasional appearances on CBC Radio but she is not charismatic to say the least. An earnest discussion on how to prevent your eye glasses fogging does not rally the troops.
I think Tam is doing a very good job, jrk. It seems to me that any Minister of Health has to be a very good communicator.
Unfortunately, Tam and her cohort Njoo seem to me to be like two wizened elves from a netherworld who blink shortsightedly in the light of day. So I don't think they've been good communicators at all. Utterly boring. Putting up a bunch of charts and rambling on assuming people understand them, means that 90% of the public have paid not the slightest attention to them. They are not household names. I watched most of their pressers, but I'm retired and had the time to try and see what they were getting at. The last couple of presentations were notable for the great care they took to avoid stepping on provincial toes which were mired in incompetence. No calling out by Dr Tam did I see. The NACI group were almost entirely absent from public view the entire pandemic. Tell me otherwise ...
So, when the magic switch was hit in middle March by the dolts known collectively as provincial governments, and Covid was at an end just like that because they said so, it was the greatest betrayal of public trust I've experienced in my lifetime. We were told that mask mandates were going away by March 21 and that we had to "learn to live with Covid". In my province of NS, things went from bad to worse after that, both cases and deaths, and information dropped to a trickle, with excuses of such lamentable lack of logic it was enough to make me want to go out and shake them physically into some sort of sense. Useless is a kind word for this current ramshackle state of affairs. We still have hundreds and hundreds of Covid cases a day, and I know none of my family or friends who got it these past 10 weeks bothered to arrange a PCR test, so that's likely the norm. The plague is therefore rampant and nobody gives a shit, apparently. The back cases for normal surgery are beyond comprehension.
The whole lot of public health officials should be ashamed of themselves for not speaking up against idiots like Moe, kenney and Fraud. A Quebec official resigned, the only one.
I agree with the article you quote, but whitewashing the lame performance of Tam just got my goat, frankly. And these NACI people -- who are they when they're at home? My life is nowhere near back to normal, I have sick friends, and I am pissed off. Utter failure.
Before we wander off to re-invent the wheel, how about repairing the obvious flat tire first?
In the end, Bill, the politicians called the shots -- and they got their way.
@ Bill
Unfortunately, Tam and her cohort Njoo seem to me to be like two wizened elves from a netherworld who blink shortsightedly in the light of day. So I don't think they've been good communicators at all.
I think you misunderstand the role of a civil servant. She/he is not a government mouth piece. Tam's job is to supply expert advice to the Cabinet. Asking her to be a communicator is actually outside of her job description.
As Owen says "In the end, Bill, the politicians called the shots".
Tam was excellent in her appearances and provided valuable information which enabled many of us to make decisions regarding our personal safety during a pandemic. we were having a pandemic and the news was not for entertainment value but giving information. If people need to be "entertained" while receiving important information, omg, we need to revamp a whole lot of things in the school system so some of these people can understand.
Mr. Malcom it would seem is very upset about the medical system. Well, no one wants to pay more taxes! No one wanted to pay more salaries for medical staff or programs to become medical staff. This is a problem which has been coming since the 1990s. Governments knew there would be a shortage of medical staff with aging baby boomers set to retire. Did they do much to correct this? Not so much. Did they open more spaces in medical schools and other instutions of learning. Not so much. Did people care, not at the time.
Then COVID hit. Our medical system nor any other countries' medical system was set up for COVID. It great to critize but what would you have done?
Just look at how bad seniors were treated in care homes or plague houses. After seeing what went on, I've decided I'll take the "Trudeau exit" before I go into care.
Even with all that has happened, if a Premier was to say we will hold a vote on creating a specific tax for health care only, it would be voted down. People want it all for free
When our governments upset us, e.a.f, we should take a good look at ourselves.
Agreed, its not like they elected themselves. we did. Don't like how things are run, go book an appointment with your local representative and talk to them. Write a letter to the editor, especially to smaller local newspapers.
Democracy requires that we do more than vote, e.a.f.
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