‘It’s catastrophic’: Experts say U.S. public health rollbacks will impact Canadians

Infectious disease experts on both sides of the border are slamming the state of public health in the U.S.

Infectious disease experts on this side of the border are slamming the state of public health in the U.S., after the Trump administration fired the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

On Wednesday, after less than one month on the job, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced Susan Monarez would no longer be the head of the CDC.

It’s the administration’s latest aim at public health, following changes to COVID-19 vaccines guidelines, and President Donald Trump initiating the process of withdrawing from the World Health Organization.

Those who work in this field say they fear what’s happening down south will have ripple effects on the Canadian health-care system.

Concerns about vaccine access

“I don’t really know any other way to say this, but it’s catastrophic what’s happening in the United States right now in terms of public health,” said Angela Rasmussen, a virologist at the University of Saskatchewan and Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization.

Rasmussen said Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the U.S. health and human services secretary, has made it clear he intends to restrict access to vaccines.

“And that’s not simply going to affect the United States,” she said.

‘Scary times’

Mark Tyndall, the former director of the B.C. Centre for Disease Control, said the decisions by the current U.S. administration could jeapordize health outcomes for Canadians.

“I think we’re just entering very scary times,” he said. “If you lose all this capacity and you defund research and surveillance and make crazy policies about vaccinations, I think, we could look back at this as a really pivotal time in our health in North America.”

Tyndall said during his time at the BCCDC, he would often look to the CDC for policy guidance, adding he believes the organization may no longer be reliable.

“That means that we have to make more of our own decisions,” he said.

Both Tyndall and Rasmussen said we are already seeing the consequences from political rhetoric and misinformation from the U.S. making its way here, pointing to the rise in vaccine skepticism.

“This past year in Canada, we’ve had two historic measles outbreaks in Ontario and in Alberta,” Rasmussen said. “And if vaccine hesitancy and vaccine refusal continues to rise … we will potentially see even larger measles outbreaks going forward.”

Province weighs in

In a statement, B.C. Minister of Health Josie Osborne called the Trump administration’s attacks on public health and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention “deeply disturbing.”

Public health work keeps people safe on both sides of the border, Osborne added.

“In British Columbia, we support and understand the value of science and public health, the importance of combatting health misinformation, and the importance of research and scientific efforts to help make new medical advances and safeguard people’s health,” the statement continued.

Canada to take greater role

Tyndall believe that as the U.S. continues to chart this path, it provides an opportunity for Canada to become a leader in public health.

“I really think that we need to invest heavily, and we need to start thinking about doing more things both on the ground in Canada and also internationally, and taking up some of the slack that’s been left by the United States,” he said.

Rasmussen agreed, adding Canadians might need to adjust to a new reality working alone, rather than collaboratively with the U.S., like the two countries had in the past.

“And that’s scary because many countries, not just Canada, have relied on those key partnerships with the U.S.,” she said. ”It’s very frightening to be unmoored from that established system that we know worked and led to so many pivotal discoveries.”