Former chief medical officer says Alberta’s role in losing measles elimination status in Canada shameful

A former chief medical officer of Alberta says the provincial government should be ashamed of its role in the measles outbreak in Canada and Alberta’s role in losing measles elimination status in the country.

The Public Health Agency of Canada announced on Monday that Pan American Health Organization it was notified He Canada has lost the designationWhich he achieved in 1998.

“My gut reaction is sadness,” said Dr. James Talbot, Alberta’s former chief medical officer of health.

“Many people worked for a long time to achieve measles elimination status, and to lose it in a year because of the failure of government action…for a disease that is completely preventable, it saddens me.”

Pointing to the 1,956 cases recorded in Alberta since the outbreak began in March, Talbot said Alberta bears a significant responsibility for Canada losing elimination status.

He is one of several doctors and scientists who have been highly critical of the provincial government’s response to the measles outbreak, saying that messaging on the importance of vaccination and the dangers of measles was not strong enough to quickly contain the outbreak.

“I think they should be embarrassed. … I think they should apologize to Albertans, to acknowledge that we missed the mark. We have the worst record in North America,” Talbot said.

The latest federal data shows 38 per cent of Canada’s cases are in Alberta. In July, Alberta passed a grim milestone, recording more cases than the entire United States.

“We had a year to get it right,” said Talbot, who is also an assistant professor in the school of public health at the University of Alberta.

“Now that Canada has lost its vaccination status, I think along with the province of Alberta, they have an obligation to say to the rest of Canada what they’re going to do differently to make sure that doesn’t happen again.”

‘wake up call’

Although transmission has been slowing in Alberta in recent weeks, the province is not yet in the clear. Two Albertans are currently in hospital due to the illness.

“It’s a warning shot,” said Dr. Karina Topp, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at Stollery Children’s Hospital in Edmonton.

“To me, this is a collective failure at many levels of government, public health, the health care system, which we have seen over many years as falling vaccination rates have worsened since the COVID-19 pandemic and really set the stage for measles to spread like this in our country.”

According to TOP, Alberta has the highest rate of measles per population in North America.

The Alberta Medical Association also said it was disappointed by the news.

“This should not have happened,” the organization said in a statement. Statement on social media,

“Too many people are being targeted with false claims, leading to vaccine hesitancy and dangerously low vaccination rates. This incident also reinforces the critical need for strong, proactive public health leadership in the province.”

Dr. Sam Wong, chair of the association’s pediatrics section, said the Alberta government “did not devote enough resources to moving vaccinations forward quickly and to actually do a better job for public health.”

“I think the government didn’t really see the seriousness of it.”

In October, Alberta reported first measles death Since the outbreak began in the spring: one premature baby who died of congenital measles.

Wong remains concerned that Albertans don’t understand the dangers of measles infection.

“I think if we had gotten a handle on this a little bit sooner, maybe we could have stopped the spread or reduced the spread (and) maybe we wouldn’t have lost our status. It’s hard to say for sure,” Wong said.

total of 154 Albertans have been hospitalized since the outbreak began, including 15 people who were in intensive care.

Province defends vaccination approach

The Alberta government said in a statement that there has been a significant decline in measles cases.

“We are continuing to promote vaccinations and we are hopeful that the numbers will continue to decline and remain low, allowing us to officially declare the outbreak over, although the risk of new introductions always remains,” said Madison McKee, press secretary for Primary and Preventive Health Services Minister Adriana LaGrange.

“Public health officials implemented a targeted vaccination campaign, expanded clinic hours, and initiated province-wide outreach to increase vaccinations and limit spread.”

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More than 137,000 measles vaccinations have been administered in Alberta since the outbreak began in March, representing a 50 per cent increase compared to the same period last year, according to the ministry.

it states South and North ZoneThose whose rates were historically low increased by 83 percent and 73 percent, respectively.

The statement said measles has spread in small communities with low vaccination rates, but there has been no “significant spread” in the rest of the province, including cities.

“Public Health is taking proactive steps to limit further spread and ensure Albertans have timely, clear information to protect themselves and their families,” McKee said.

,it’s not rocket science’

Top believes it will likely take a few years It is possible for Canada to regain its eradication status.

“It could be easier and more convenient for people to have access to vaccines. And I think we need to help make people more aware of when they or their children are going to get vaccinated,” she said.

TOP would like the province to offer the vaccine at more locations where Albertans have access to health care, such as hospital clinics. Pharmacies could also offer more vaccines, he said, and public health clinics could expand their hours or provide drop-in locations.

TOP would like to see more efforts to engage vaccine-hesitant communities and build trust.

Talbot said Alberta must commit, along with the rest of the country, to increasing vaccination rates for all childhood diseases by age five to more than 90 per cent within five years, and provide the resources to do so.

“That’s all it takes. It’s not rocket science. It’s not hard to do. We’ve done it before,” he said.

Public health also needs to be strengthened, he said, so that when cases arrive in Canada, surveillance, contact tracing and case management teams can respond quickly to contain the outbreak.

According to the Public Health Agency of Canada, the country can regain measles elimination status once transmission of the currently circulating measles strain stops for at least 12 months.