Health Canada needs to be reformed

by Maj (ret'd) CORNELIU. CHISU, CD, PMSC, FEC, CET, P. Eng. Former Member of Parliament Pickering-Scarborough East Health care in Canada is in shambles. The problems range from incompetent administration at the provincial level, to disarray at the federal level in providing the necessary support and supply that ensures the basic means of providing health services to Canadians. Our health care system has reached dramatic lows. In a country that claims to provide the best environment for raising a family, how can we justify or even explain the mess surrounding the supply of vaccines during the Covid 19 pandemic, or the today lack of medicines for children so prevalent today? Children's cold and flu medications remain hard to find on pharmacy shelves, at a time when families are in need of them most, as we enter flu season. The question is: Are we on the brink of becoming a third world country? In August, Health Canada confirmed a shortage of children's pain relief medications across the country. The scant supply of medications, including liquid Children's Tylenol and chewable acetaminophen tablets, has been attributed to a combination of supply chain issues, and heightened consumer demands due to what drug makers have called an "unprecedented" Canadian cold and flu season. If these stories sound familiar, it is because we were fed similar stories about the Covid-19 vaccine shortage. In addition, it now seems that amoxicillin, a first-line antibiotic used to treat many common bacterial infections, is also in short supply. Let us review the latest November developments. Health Canada said last week that a foreign supply of children's pain and fever medication should land on Canadian retail shelves in the coming weeks. Let's hope they meant, before the new year! The agency, which had previously announced it was importing acetaminophen and ibuprofen to be distributed to hospitals, said the new retail supply should help families struggling to treat their sick children. The move follows a months-long shortage of Tylenol, Advil and alternative brands that has sent many parents and caregivers scouring bare shelves and swapping tips on drug sightings. No wonder hospital emergency rooms have become overwhelmed. But never mind, there is always someone else to blame for shortcomings. This seems to have become the rule of the day in Canada, a sad reminder for me, of the old communist days in Romania. The shortage of medicines, the agency said, was fuelled by a triple threat of COVID-19, influenza and respiratory syncytial virus, a common fall and winter illness in children known as RSV. This illness emerged in late summer, earlier than expected, and continues to slam hospitals. Has Heath Canada learned nothing from the recent pandemic vaccines shortages? While the government has said, based on the advice of the public servants in charge, that a new supply of acetaminophen is coming, it did not say how much or where it's being imported from. The agency only noted that the medicines will meet all of Canada's standards. Let us hope it won't be like they 'met Canadian standards' in the case of Covid vaccines, with expired vaccines being deemed OK, and a month after the expiration date they were being administered. "All information related to cautions and warnings, dosing directions, ingredients, and other important details will be made available in both English and French to ensure parents and caregivers clearly understand what medication they are using and how to give to their children," Health Canada said. "This work is being done in parallel to obtaining the additional foreign supply." How nice! Note the emphasis on the language issue before the product is available. What does that say about the origin of the product? Why isn't it being manufactured here? The agency is asking consumers to purchase only what they need, to ensure other parents and caregivers have access to the medicine. A typical communist approach to cover their own shortcomings. I ask again: What were they doing to arrive in this situation? They are paid from taxpayer's money to assure the best health care for Canadians, especially for our children. The agency is saying now that the foreign ibuprofen bound for hospitals has already been imported and is being distributed. This raises the question of why we do not have a Canadian pharmaceutical company manufacturing it. As we saw during the Covid-19 vaccine crisis, Canada does not seem to have any strategy for dealing with essential medical shortages or being prepared to cope with a health crisis. In my opinion, the current situation is due to the combined incompetence of elected officials and public service personnel in decision-making related to health care issues. What do you think?