Now that the acute phase of the pandemic – if we are lucky – seems behind us, the temptation to turn the page is strong. Normal. As soon as we have the slightest impression of coming out of a great ordeal, the human reflex is to do everything to forget it.
It shows everywhere. Governments don’t talk regarding it anymore. Citizens move on. However, falling into denial so quickly is a mistake. I was worried regarding it right here on January 4th.
Starting from the staggering unpreparedness in 2020 of even the most advanced states in the event of a pandemic, I asked this question: will the decision-makers of this world, present and future, finally have learned the right lessons before the next major crisis? Very clever, the soothsayers…
Upstream of other national or global health crises which one day, inevitably, will appear, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is also concerned regarding it.
The duty teaches us that according to an in-depth report from the OECD, “health networks have several lessons to learn from the COVID-19 pandemic in order to prepare for the crises that are set to arise in the coming years”. Quite an understatement…
Disproportionate role
The OECD therefore recommends, among other things, that governments “address the shortage of manpower in their hospitals, improve their supply of medical equipment and rely on better international cooperation in research”. Common sense, what.
To say that the health networks were in no way prepared for a pandemic is indeed a purely factual observation. In the CHSLDs of Quebec, it even cost the lives of thousands of us, often in appalling conditions. Memory being a faculty that forgets, we must remember it.
One proof among many others of the serious unpreparedness of most governments is also the disproportionate role played by the powerful American consulting firm Mckinsey & Company in the “management” of the pandemic.
Discreetly, McKinsey was no less omnipresent behind the scenes of several governments, including those of France, Quebec, Ontario and Canada. Like what even mega-ministries of health have felt unable to cope with the demands of a global pandemic on their own. Including for the organization of a vaccination campaign. Phew…
Massive investments
It is therefore no surprise that the OECD writes that “health systems can strengthen their resilience by learning lessons that enable better adaptation in the event of a crisis, and it is essential to do so now to face future threats”. .
Which, according to the OECD, should also include preventive medicine and better mental health care, two of the great neglects of our networks.
With good reason, the OECD notes that vulnerable people and economically disadvantaged backgrounds – because they are already more neglected than the rest of society – were hit even harder by COVID-19.
The OECD also suggests that governments invest massively in the recruitment of medical personnel. We don’t even need to explain why, so obvious are the reasons to do so…
However, in Quebec, the combination of major tax cuts decreed by the Legault government and clearly insufficient health transfers imposed on the provinces by the Trudeau government risks making this vital operation even more difficult.
