Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to take part in this emergency debate on the A (H1N1) virus. I asked to take part in it because I have spent my whole life, whether as a general practitioner or as a politician—mayor or member of Parliament—trying to understand people and disease, but particularly listening, diagnosing and then supporting my patients through their ordeals, whatever these may have been.
Health is the single most important thing for each and every one of our fellow citizens, and we must, to the extent possible, try to maintain our health, including through prevention. Prevention can be a very personal matter such as eating a healthy diet or being a non-smoker. However, prevention is also a government's responsibility, as is the case with the current A (H1N1) pandemic, regarding which the Conservative government has failed miserably in its prevention approach.
Let us not forget that we are now going through the second phase of this pandemic, with the first phase having begun in Mexico, last spring. So, the Conservative government was aware of the issue and had plenty of time to prepare for it, but showed no leadership in this regard. The other countries have been preparing for a long time to fight this pandemic, but what has the Conservative government done?
Health authorities all over the world saw this pandemic coming when the virus hit, back in April. And while many countries were busy ordering vaccines in May, the Conservatives waited until early August.
The World Health Organization, the WHO, recommended the production of H1N1 flu vaccines on July 7, but the Conservative government waited until August 6, a month later, to order vaccines from GlaxoSmithKline. That unbelievable delay is largely responsible for the current shortage of vaccines. The WHO also recommended non-adjuvanted vaccines for pregnant women on July 7, but again the Conservatives waited and did not order those vaccines until September 4. Why did it wait for close to two months before making a decision?
The federal government's slowness in following up on the WHO recommendations resulted in the production of adjuvanted vaccines being slowed down this week, because of new priorities in the production. This is why fewer vaccines have been delivered to Canadians.
A number of other countries placed their orders for vaccine much earlier than Canada. The United States and the United Kingdom placed their first orders in May. Yes, I said in May. By July 24, Novartis International had already received orders for the H1N1 vaccine and was holding discussions with more than 35 governments. It had even signed contracts with the United States, France, the Netherlands and Switzerland. The Americans alone ordered more than $1 billion worth of H1N1 vaccine and it was delivered well before the vaccine was made available in Canada.
Take China for example. It started its mass vaccination campaign by administering its first H1N1 vaccines on September 21. Australia did so on September 30, the United States on October 5, Sweden on October 12, Japan on October 19, and Great Britain on October 21. Canada, on the other hand, did not start vaccinations until October 26.
A government that felt responsible for the health and safety of its citizens would have acted back in May. A responsible government would have taken the lead on this by conducting a public education campaign at all levels. Did this Conservative government promote the vaccine, explain the gravity of the illness to Canadians, and tell them as well that in order for the vaccine to be really effective and substantially reduce the number of people who fall sick, as many people as possible have to be vaccinated? The answer is no.
The harmful effects of this virus should be explained to Canadians through the electronic media, newspapers, schools, the universities and even religious institutions. People have a right to know. Five medical doctors in the Liberal caucus issued a press release on this and have been constantly asking the government questions about it, but are still without an answer.
South of the border, the Obama administration has proclaimed a national health emergency and given U.S. health authorities additional powers to deal with the pandemic and contain it. Instead of informing Canadians about the possibly very serious effects of the virus, the Conservative government preferred to spend $60 million announcing infrastructure projects and providing tax information. It puts concrete before health.
Things have been in total chaos for weeks, if not months. It has been left to the media to invite experts to give the public information. There has been complete silence from this government, other than meaningless and unworthy answers to questions asked by opposition members. A sample answer: “Canada has the best per capita vaccination rate.” I am sorry, but that is the lowest common denominator. We are not talking about “per capita”, we are talking about men, women and children who are all worried.
It is because of the inaction of this government, which has not been able to explain what this flu strain is. Why get vaccinated? Is the vaccine safe? Should pregnant women be vaccinated? Should children be vaccinated? Because of their inaction in the face of this crisis, panic started to emerge after the unfortunate death of a young boy in Ontario and the proportion of people wanting to get vaccinated rose from 30% to 80% in a few days.
The Liberal Party of Canada implores the Conservative government to use part of the $400 million set aside in the 2006 budget for intervention in the case of a pandemic. Yes, we are in a pandemic situation now.
The entire population should be vaccinated, but while we wait we have to tell the Canadian public, over and over, that one of the best ways to protect yourself against this illness is always a simple thing to do: whenever possible, wash your hands as often as possible with soap and water or a substitute product.
I could continue, but in conclusion, I implore this government to give health priority over concrete.