2024-03-06 19:25:38
A national nonprofit group called the Canadian COVID Society launched Wednesday, with its co-founders saying the organization is needed as public health agencies have backed away from COVID-19 prevention measures and awareness campaigns .
Published at 2:25 p.m. Updated at 6:03 p.m.
Nicole Ireland The Canadian Press
“I feel like, in a way, we’re filling a void that public health has left,” Dr. Joe Vipond, one of the company’s five co-founders, said at a press conference. .
In his home province of Alberta, “there is virtually no mention of COVID. There is no mention of long COVID. It’s really fallen off the radar for a lot of public health at this point,” said Dr. Vipond, who is an emergency physician in Calgary.
“Although the acute phase of the pandemic is over, the virus continues to cause significant chronic illness,” states the Canadian COVID Society website.
COVID-19 was the third leading cause of death in Canada in 2022, behind heart disease and cancer, it is reported.
“This continues to be a stressor on our healthcare system to this day. This contributes to poor health and excess deaths,” said Dr. Kashif Pirzada, another co-founder of the company.
But with many Canadians wanting to put COVID-19 behind them, public health agencies find themselves in a difficult position, he said.
« [En santé publique], one foot is in politics, one foot is in medicine. But right now, the public doesn’t want to think regarding that. Politicians don’t want to think regarding it. And public health must manage this,” said Dr. Pirzada, an emergency physician based in Toronto.
The company’s mission is to “protect the health and safety of Canadians from the harms of COVID and long COVID through education, engaging and empowering the public and organizations through scientific knowledge,” states a slide presented during the press conference.
It also aims to support people with long COVID, which affects 2.1 million people in the country, according to Statistics Canada.
“We have foundations for heart disease. We have cancer foundations, but we need a group dedicated to fighting COVID-19,” argued Dr. Pirzada.
The three other founders of the company are Nancy Delagrave, a physics professor specializing in air quality in Montreal; Cheryl White, a Toronto engineer dedicated to reducing disease transmission; and Chris Houston, a governance expert based in Bancroft, Ontario, who has worked with Doctors Without Borders and the World Health Organization.
The move creates a formal organization that can build on the core work volunteers have done throughout the pandemic, Joe Vipond said.
The company hopes to generate funds through donations and grants that will help pay staff members. It has received no government funding to date, he said.
Government reactions
The Canadian Press has requested comments from the Public Health Agency of Canada, the Ontario Minister of Health and Alberta Health Services on the Canadian COVID Society’s position that COVID -19 has disappeared from the radar of public health agencies.
“The Government of Alberta is committed to ensuring Albertans have a strong and resilient public health system that protects the health and well-being of Albertans,” said Andrea Smith, spokesperson for Alberta Health Minister Adriana LaGrange in an email.
“Our government continues to manage the virus in an endemic state. Albertans are encouraged to reach out to their primary care provider if they have questions and concerns related to COVID-19 and other personal health issues. »
In an emailed response, Hannah Jensen, a spokesperson for Ontario Health Minister Sylvia Jones, said the provincial government is “taking steps to strengthen all aspects of health care and has increased the provincial funding for our public health units by 16% on average since 2018 to help them connect people to the programs and services they need in their communities.”
“This is in addition to the nearly $100 million we have provided to public health units in response to the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Ms. Jensen.
The Public Health Agency of Canada was unable to provide a response within the deadline.
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