Thank you, Mr. Chair.
My name's Jim Hall. I'm vice-president at Hoffman-La Roche, and it is my pleasure to be here in front of the committee today. Hoffman-La Roche is a global biopharmaceutical company that provides medications for oncology, rheumatology, transplantation, metabolic disease, and infectious disease.
All of us are acutely aware that we're in the middle of a global influenza pandemic, and what I'd like to talk about today is being prepared, not only prepared for the current H1N1 pandemic but for any future pandemic that may come along. To that end, the federal government must ensure the appropriate renewal of budgets for pandemic planning and preparedness, set to expire in 2011.
Pandemics and other outbreaks of disease are known to have serious and devastating health and economic impacts. In economic terms, the potential impact of a severe worldwide flu pandemic could cost the global economy $3.1 trillion and reduce GDP by 4.8%. Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters estimated in 2006 that the impact of a future pandemic could cost the Canadian economy as much as $60 billion. A more recent study conducted by RiskAnalytica forecast the impact of a moderate pandemic in Canada and predicted that a moderate pandemic could increase hospitalizations by over 67,000 people, increase absenteeism of health care workers and emergency service providers by 25%, and impact the production that occurs within the Canadian economy by over $11.9 billion.
The Government of Canada has recognized the importance of pandemic planning and has invested heavily in this area since 2006. This investment has meant that we are better prepared as a country to respond to an infectious disease outbreak than ever before in our history. However, while this planning has allowed us to better respond to this pandemic, we must remember that we are fortunate currently to be in a mild pandemic. The risk of a future, more serious pandemic has not decreased with the emergence of H1N1. Given that H1N1 virus will continue to circulate for a number of years, and given that the H5N1 virus, or the avian flu as it is more commonly known, continues to circulate, the risk of a more serious pandemic continues to be high and should prompt us to be more vigilant, not less.
We must commit ourselves to continued emergency preparedness planning. Budgets for pandemic planning, set to expire in 2011, must be renewed. It is imperative that the government provide sufficient funding to ensure that all the necessary measures, including antiviral stockpiles and emergency response infrastructures, are capable of dealing with this current outbreak in addition to all future outbreaks.
The current pandemic plan has at minimum impressed upon us the importance of being properly prepared for an emergency or health crisis and to take nothing for granted. Canada's pandemic plan, which has allowed us to respond to the H1N1 outbreak in a coordinated way, outlines a response strategy that relies on antivirals and vaccines to protect the health of Canadians. The plan states that antiviral drugs like Roche's Tamiflu remain the only medical intervention available during an initial pandemic response until a vaccine is made available. I would add that even after a vaccine becomes available, antivirals will remain the best option for treatment for those who fall ill despite the efforts of a vaccination campaign.
Any pandemic strategy response must ensure the protection and safety of health care workers and emergency service providers, who will be on the front lines working to contain an outbreak and minimize the negative effects to Canada's health and economic well-being. The Canadian plan provides that antivirals will be used for early treatment for those who fall ill and to protect health care workers through prophylactic use in a very limited way. Emergency service providers such as police, firefighters, and paramedics will not be given antivirals as protection from infection, according to the plan.
In conclusion, the Government of Canada must continue to devote needed resources to pandemic planning and preparedness and ensure that our health care workers and emergency service providers are protected with appropriate preventative use of antivirals.
To that end, Hoffman-La Roche recommends, one, that the federal government must renew and increase its funding for emergency preparedness and response, particularly in the face of current response demands and those that will be required to meet future public health threats; and two, that the Canadian government should commit to increasing its stockpile of antiviral drugs to ensure that front-line health workers and emergency service providers are protected during a pandemic.
Thank you very much for your time.