The U.S. move follows a similar announcement late last month by the World Health Organization that declared monkeypox a global health emergency — in both cases, these developments are prompting more attention and, in the U.S., more money and others resources to fight the virus.
Read more: Monkeypox — US declares health emergency amid outbreak
Dr. Don Vinh, an infectious disease specialist at McGill University Health Centre, says he believes Canada, as a WHO member state, has an obligation to follow suit now that the UN agency has declared the monkeypox outbreak a state of emergency need for public health concern internationally. Story continues below ad “We have to respond accordingly,” he said. “I think formally declaring an emergency response helps some shepherding or directing administrations, which can be a bit ambiguous.” Such a declaration in Canada should not resemble the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the most recent event to trigger a Canadian health emergency declaration, he said. 3:58 Dr. Fauci welcomes monkeypox emergency declaration, looks at path ahead6 But he said it could spark the development of additional resources that would be helpful to those fighting the virus where it is spreading in Canada now — and prevent it from being contained in the future.
Read more: Monkeypox declared a global health emergency. Do they need travel curbs?
“We have a window of opportunity right now where we have some control,” Vinh said. Story continues below ad “I think what we’ve seen with COVID is that if we have a kind of dumb approach to it — some cities or provinces do it one way and others do it a different way — we’re going to miss the opportunity to control it.” Canada has confirmed 931 cases of monkeypox as of Aug. 5, up from 890 two days earlier, according to data from the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC). Ontario now leads the country in case numbers, taking over from Montreal, which was the hot spot for the virus in Canada until recently. The number of cases is highest in the US, with more than 6,600 people infected with the zoonotic disease which until recent months had never been seen outside of central and west Africa.
Canada’s smallpox response
State governments and the Biden administration have faced criticism for their slow response to the outbreak in the US, with clinics in major cities such as New York and San Francisco saying they have not received enough of the two-shot vaccine to meet demand and some had to stop offering the second tranche to ensure delivery of the first tranches. Story continues below ad 1:35Monkeypox: 2nd largest city New York to declare state of emergency as cases spread across US. Canada has not faced the same scrutiny and, experts say, can be commended for acting quickly to deal with the outbreaks, especially in Toronto and Montreal – the two main areas of infection in the country. The Canadian response has been particularly effective in targeting the population that, to date, has happened to be the most affected – men who have sex with men – by ensuring they have immediate and easy access to vaccines and receive education about the virus through trusted sources in the communities them, says Dr. Isaac Bogoch, an infectious disease specialist at Toronto General Hospital. That’s why an emergency declaration might not make much difference, except perhaps in technical terms, he said. “We are treating it as an emergency,” Bogoh said.
Read more: Monkey pox is now a global health threat. But the risk isn’t necessarily higher in Canada, experts say
Story continues below ad “We’ve had a very relatively quick, but very coordinated response that’s underway and other places haven’t done that to the same extent.” However, there is still room for improvement in Canada, especially in reducing barriers to care, testing and diagnostic capacity, and expanding access to preventive measures such as vaccines, Bogoch added. “But we’re doing well compared to other places. We really are.” Asked if Canada was considering declaring a public health emergency on Thursday, a PHAC official said Canada “recognizes the determination of the WHO and recognizes that the global epidemic of monkeypox requires an urgent global response” and stressed that the federal government is dealing monkeypox as a priority since the outbreak began in May. Questions sent to the office of federal Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos asking whether the government is considering declaring a state of emergency were deferred to PHAC. The agency has deployed more than 80,000 doses of Imvamune vaccine in provinces and territories and is supporting decentralized testing by providing control material and protocols to laboratory partners across the country, PHAC said in a statement. 2:11 ‘I just think it’s the right thing’: Albertans make appointments for monkeypox vaccine ‘I just think it’s the right thing’: Albertans make appointments for monkeypox vaccine – July 28, 2022 “PHAC also continues to work closely with international, provincial and territorial health partners to gather information about this evolving outbreak and determine the best course of action to stop the spread of smallpox in Canada,” said Anna Maddison, spokesperson of PHAC. an email to Global News. Story continues below ad “Canada will also continue to work with WHO and international partners to strengthen the global response to the current monkeypox outbreak.” Related News
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While the actual numbers of cases in Canada remain lower than those in the US, the infection rate per capita is higher in Canada than south of the border, which is a data point to keep in mind, says Dr. Sameer Elsayed, an infectious disease disease physician and professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at Western University. That’s why he says it could make sense for Canada to consider declaring monkeypox a public health emergency in the near future, especially if the number of cases continues to rise at current rates, he said.
Read more: Monkeypox — Canada’s top doctor urges those at risk to get vaccinated as cases rise
But such a declaration would require resources and additional funds to go toward this virus for things like vaccine clinics, contact tracing, testing, education and other measures, Elsayed said. At a time when health systems in every province and territory are facing what virtually every health professional has called a “crisis” in staffing and resources, Elsayed says he believes declaring a health emergency in Canada more generally is more urgent and should go along with any such statement about a single virus. Story continues below ad That way, more resources and a greater sense of urgency will be directed at many areas of the health system that are collapsing under the weight of long delays in care, patient surges and a mass exodus of health workers across the country, he said. . “We don’t have enough money in the system. So we need money for monkeypox, but we also need money for other conditions,” Elsayed said. “It would make sense to declare a state of emergency, but only if we declare a state of emergency for our health care system in general which is in a state of disrepair.” Related News © 2022 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
