The Liberal government hosted a series of meetings with various sectors on what Canada’s input should be in drafting the World Health Organization’s global pandemic treaty. Canada’s contribution to the global discussion called for social media censorship of “misinformation” and a focus on diversity, equity and inclusion when fighting the next pandemic.
The WHO failed to draft the pandemic treaty before the May 2024 deadline, as its world assembly member states could not agree unanimously on the articles of the agreement. The treaty was supposed to give the WHO authority to direct the public health responses of its 194 member nations. The WHO has stated that its failure to draft the treaty was a setback and it will attempt to pass the treaty in the future.
Before the draft failed to reach a consensus, Conservative MP Leslyn Lewis advocated against the treaty saying it would infringe on Canada’s sovereignty by giving undue powers over Canada’s health response to the WHO.
Canada’s Office of International Affairs for the Health Portfolio held the Pandemic Agreement Engagement Series from Jan. 29 to Feb. 12, 2024. The series was held in several Canadian capital cities where 116 individuals from various sectors provided input on the various articles within the pandemic treaty draft.
According to the Public Health Agency of Canada, groups and individuals representing provincial and territorial governments, Indigenous organizations, academia, public and private sectors, civil society and associations were asked for their thoughts on Canada’s input when negotiating the international treaty.
Representatives broke off into groups to ascribe their suggestions for articles in the Pandemic treaty draft that they felt were relevant to the communities they represented. In its summary report, PHAC summarized the inputs it received for each article in the treaty.
Regarding how the WHO should collect public health surveillance data during a future pandemic, Canadian stakeholders wanted to ensure that the international health organization was surveilling Canadians “inclusively.”
”Comprehensive prevention strategies, inclusive surveillance practices, and addressing challenges for marginalized communities are essential for effective pandemic prevention,” it said.
When asked what inclusive surveillance practices are and how they could help prevent infection during a global pandemic, Global Affairs Canada and PHAC did not respond to True North’s request, though the report continues.
“Data ownership, privacy, inclusivity, race-based data and cultural sensitivity are important issues which could be given greater consideration,” the report said. “Data collection can be a challenge, compounded by strained relationships between Indigenous people and the health system, marked by trust deficits and ingrained power differentials.”
Canadian stakeholders were also concerned about what they deemed to be misinformation during a pandemic.
“Countering misinformation and disinformation is critical to pandemic response efforts, as seen by its impact on vaccination and immunization rates around the world,” the report said. “Efforts should be made to hold social media platforms accountable for the content they host. However, it is imperative to address misinformation in a manner that respects freedom of speech and expression.”
True North reached out to both groups, asking how the WHO could hold social media platforms accountable for content that it deemed misinformation while simultaneously respecting freedom of speech and expression, but did not receive a response.
The Canadian stakeholders also wanted the WHO’s approach to One Health, a healthcare approach that takes into account the relationship between animals and humans in the spread of disease, to consider that minority groups are particularly vulnerable in pandemics.
“Resilience is particularly an issue for minority groups, who disproportionately staffed many essential jobs and were put at high risk during the COVID-19 pandemic,” the report said.
According to a Statistics Canada report in 2020, “Immigrants are disproportionately represented in jobs with greater exposure to COVID-19 – 34% of front-line/essential service workers identify as visible minorities, compared with 21% in other sectors,” and visible minorities are also “more likely to work in industries worst affected by the pandemic.”
When asked how noting that individuals who are visible minorities are more likely to work in health are jobs could mitigate the dangers of a global health crisis, the government was similarly unresponsive.
The community representatives also wanted the treaty’s verbiage to reflect a consideration for the value of “lived experience” when addressing the next global health crisis.
“Article sic (on One Health) could be improved by more clearly articulating the value of lived experience, including the experience and knowledge of communities with less capacity,” the report said. “Examples like Ebola management and One Health approaches demonstrate that Low and Middle-Income Countries and Indigenous groups have valuable lived experience that can inform effective strategies.”