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Source: http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=de4d338a-c20d-4332-a2f5-aca3e2256642
Lack of information sharing agreements could put Canadians at risk
Meagan Fitzpatrick , Canwest News Service
Published: Tuesday, May 06, 2008
OTTAWA - Four years after its creation, the Public Health Agency of Canada still doesn't have agreements in place with the provinces and territories on how to share health information and that's preventing Canadians from having a clear picture about the risks of infectious diseases, the auditor general warns.
In her office's first audit of the health agency since it was created in 2004 following the SARS outbreak, Sheila Fraser said Tuesday the agency has surveillance systems in place to detect and monitor existing and emerging infectious diseases, but that "fundamental weaknesses" identified as far back as 1999, when surveillance was the responsibility of Health Canada, still remain.
The report said PHAC has "not made satisfactory progress" on past recommendations related to strategic direction, data quality, measuring results and sharing information.
"We recognize that there were competing demands associated with launching a new organization, but we are nonetheless concerned about the overall lack of progress on our past recommendations," Fraser said in her report.
Progress has been blocked by a failure to set priorities, track performance and evaluate progress, as well as by poor co-ordination with the provinces and territories, she said.
The public health agency relies on them to supply it with information, but because of the absence of formal sharing agreements, there is no guarantee that the federal agency will get timely, accurate or complete information.
With the exception of Ontario, no province or territory has signed a data-sharing agreement with the public health agency.
"This limits its ability to provide Canadians with a complete and consistent national picture of infectious diseases as a basis for public health actions," the report said.
The groundwork to share information has been laid, the auditor general said, but "critical arrangements," such as how to collect and disclose personal health information, "still need to be sorted out."
These are the type of arrangements that are needed to respond to a SARS-like public health emergency, Fraser's report said.
"Until these arrangements are in place, it may be more difficult for the agency to obtain the information needed to prevent and respond to a disease outbreak," Fraser warned.
The agency has developed an intergovernmental memorandum of understanding on how to share information during a public emergency but not on routine surveillance. That memorandum, as of January 2008, was still awaiting approval by the federal, provincial and territorial governments. Fraser said it's largely symbolic and isn't good enough to ensure the adequate flow of information between governments.
Fraser also cautioned that without the data-sharing arrangements in place, Canada is putting itself at risk of not meeting its obligations to notify the World Health Organization within specified times in the event of an international public health threat.
The audit identified another cause for concern related to the agency's relationship with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. It found that the two agencies have yet to determine which of the animal diseases that affect humans are the highest priorities for surveillance and which of the two agencies will be responsible for that surveillance.
Given that an estimated 65 to 80 per cent of newly identified human diseases come from animals, the auditor general said the confusion must be cleared up.
"We are concerned that federal organizations may not be tracking animal diseases capable of affecting human health in the right places at the right times," she said.
In response to Fraser's findings, the agencies said they are now finalizing a memorandum of understanding to clarify their respective roles. A new federal-provincial committee has also been set up to deal with animal-to-human infections.
? Canwest News Service 2008
Lack of information sharing agreements could put Canadians at risk
Meagan Fitzpatrick , Canwest News Service
Published: Tuesday, May 06, 2008
OTTAWA - Four years after its creation, the Public Health Agency of Canada still doesn't have agreements in place with the provinces and territories on how to share health information and that's preventing Canadians from having a clear picture about the risks of infectious diseases, the auditor general warns.
In her office's first audit of the health agency since it was created in 2004 following the SARS outbreak, Sheila Fraser said Tuesday the agency has surveillance systems in place to detect and monitor existing and emerging infectious diseases, but that "fundamental weaknesses" identified as far back as 1999, when surveillance was the responsibility of Health Canada, still remain.
The report said PHAC has "not made satisfactory progress" on past recommendations related to strategic direction, data quality, measuring results and sharing information.
"We recognize that there were competing demands associated with launching a new organization, but we are nonetheless concerned about the overall lack of progress on our past recommendations," Fraser said in her report.
Progress has been blocked by a failure to set priorities, track performance and evaluate progress, as well as by poor co-ordination with the provinces and territories, she said.
The public health agency relies on them to supply it with information, but because of the absence of formal sharing agreements, there is no guarantee that the federal agency will get timely, accurate or complete information.
With the exception of Ontario, no province or territory has signed a data-sharing agreement with the public health agency.
"This limits its ability to provide Canadians with a complete and consistent national picture of infectious diseases as a basis for public health actions," the report said.
The groundwork to share information has been laid, the auditor general said, but "critical arrangements," such as how to collect and disclose personal health information, "still need to be sorted out."
These are the type of arrangements that are needed to respond to a SARS-like public health emergency, Fraser's report said.
"Until these arrangements are in place, it may be more difficult for the agency to obtain the information needed to prevent and respond to a disease outbreak," Fraser warned.
The agency has developed an intergovernmental memorandum of understanding on how to share information during a public emergency but not on routine surveillance. That memorandum, as of January 2008, was still awaiting approval by the federal, provincial and territorial governments. Fraser said it's largely symbolic and isn't good enough to ensure the adequate flow of information between governments.
Fraser also cautioned that without the data-sharing arrangements in place, Canada is putting itself at risk of not meeting its obligations to notify the World Health Organization within specified times in the event of an international public health threat.
The audit identified another cause for concern related to the agency's relationship with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. It found that the two agencies have yet to determine which of the animal diseases that affect humans are the highest priorities for surveillance and which of the two agencies will be responsible for that surveillance.
Given that an estimated 65 to 80 per cent of newly identified human diseases come from animals, the auditor general said the confusion must be cleared up.
"We are concerned that federal organizations may not be tracking animal diseases capable of affecting human health in the right places at the right times," she said.
In response to Fraser's findings, the agencies said they are now finalizing a memorandum of understanding to clarify their respective roles. A new federal-provincial committee has also been set up to deal with animal-to-human infections.
? Canwest News Service 2008