Information
November 2003
Toward the Renewal of Canada's Public Health System
The Government of Canada has listened to the concerns of Canadians and has received valuable
input from Dr. Naylor's National Advisory Committee on SARS and Public Health, the provinces
and territories and other stakeholders.
Today's investment will build on current strengths and address some of the gaps in Canada's
public health system. This is the beginning of a longer term process to build a strong
public health system to meet the infectious disease challenges that we face.
Supporting front-line workers
To ensure that front-line workers can respond to outbreaks quickly and effectively, Health
Canada is working to:
- develop a web-based alert system for respiratory illness in major Canadian cities and
ports of entry;
- develop alert system protocols with the provinces and territories;
- purchase additional masks and laboratory testing materials for the National Emergency
Stockpile System;
- increase the capacity of its Emergency Operations Centre;
- develop deployable response teams with expertise in emergency response, epidemiology
and laboratory ; and
- develop Internet-based training and scientific conferences for front line workers.
Health Canada, in collaboration with domestic and international partners, has already
developed:
- technical guidelines for the detection, investigation and control of SARS;
- a standard case definition for SARS, in collaboration with domestic and international
partners;
- enhanced surveillance for severe and emerging respiratory infections in the post-SARS
period; and,
- an internet-based Public Health Information System (i-PHIS), which allows local public
health workers to capture and track detailed information.
Surveillance
To ensure that Canada is better prepared to respond to infectious disease outbreaks, we
need to know as quickly as possible when there are outbreaks anywhere in Canada or the
rest of the world. Health Canada will:
- monitor domestic outbreaks of influenza and influenza like illness more vigorously
through its national FluWatch surveillance program;
- expand international environmental scanning (i.e., review reports about influenza from
international agencies and governments and unverified media scanning, such as the Global
Public Health Intelligence Network (GPHIN)) and Pro-Med;
- continue to exchange information and lessons learned with the international community
through the Global Public Health Lab Network;
- continue to work with provinces and territories to develop common standards for the
surveillance of communicable diseases;
Laboratory Capacity
Health Canada, in collaboration with the Canadian Public Health Laboratory Network, is
strengthening ongoing work to develop:
- a laboratory information system to share information, data, test results, and trend
analysis among labs;
- protocols for testing for other agents; and,
- guidelines on how to handle specimens.
Health Canada, in collaboration with domestic and international partners, has already
developed the "SARS Coronavirus Laboratory Investigations Protocol in the SARS Post-Outbreak
Period." This framework provides guidance on:
- specimen collection and transportation
- criteria for requesting a laboratory diagnosis fo SARS coronavirus infections; and,
- bio-safety measures for laboratory personnel and front-line healthcare workers.
Research
Research will be undertaken to:
- new diagnostic tests;
- the development of animal models of SARS coronavirus infection;
- treatment of SARS; and,
- the development of a SARS coronavirus vaccine.
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