Thank you so much.
Good afternoon, Madam Chair and members of the committee. As always, it's a pleasure to be here with officials to provide an update on the 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 before me today are the chief public health officer, Dr. Butler-Jones, and Shelagh Jane Woods, who is 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 systemic ongoing contacts with the World Health Organization and other international partners.
Within our borders, we have made a concerted and coordinated effort to share information and lessons learned with our provincial and territorial counterparts. In my view, this collaboration reflects an unprecedented spirit of cooperation. Experts and decision-makers from all jurisdictions and the entire spectrum of public health management have come together to ensure an 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 the committee in February, I indicated that it was my intention to be open and to listen in order 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 environments. 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 the H1N1 virus 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 website of the Public Health Agency of Canada and by 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 at 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 that 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 of the outbreak was milder than first anticipated, we continued with weekly briefings, including the one we just had today. We are committed to ensuring that 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 H1N1 flu virus in the fall.
As Prime Minister Harper and Presidents Obama and Calderón 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 the provinces and territories, front-line 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 greater 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 it 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 reserves. However, first nations needing treatment for severe H1N1 symptoms receive hospital services through the provincial health care system. This arrangement calls upon all governments to cooperate to protect the health of communities. That is why we are committed to maintaining and improving our strong working relationship with provinces and first nations to ensure that all Canadians receive the care they need when they need it. Of course, we're committed to making sure that 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 that 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 reallocate nurses to where needs are greatest. In addition, we're training home-care 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. Thanks to the support from Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, we're working to deliver supplies of water to communities to help prevent and control infections in homes on reserves.
Moving into the fall, we are increasing efforts to get the H1N1 and seasonal flu vaccines to those Canadians who want and need them 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. They are our tools that will enable us to work best with our partners internationally and domestically.
I understand Dr. Butler-Jones will now make some brief remarks, after which I'll be happy to take any questions.
Thank you, Madam Chair.