HEALTH

HEALTH Decentralized response to the pandemic can be fixed

by Charlie Smith

B.C. has a problem in addressing the COVID-19 pandemic—namely, that the health authorities are politically and scientifically unaccountable. Photo by Alexey Solodovnikov and Valeria Arkhipova.

One of the most famous sentences in the history of space exploration was uttered by Jim Lovell, an astronaut on the Apollo 13 su er the greatest consequences—families with immunocompromised members— don’t even know where they can le complaints. And even if they did, the College of spacecra . “Okay, Houston, I believe we’ve had a problem here,” Lovell said.

Some very intelligent people in B.C. know that we have a problem of a di erent sort here in our province when it comes to COVID-19.

Whereas the astronauts aboard Apollo 13 lost their oxygen tanks, our predicament revolves around government health o cials who want to drop virtually all defences—save vaccinations and a few free rapid-test kits—in the face of a sixth wave of infections. is is despite evidence that the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which can cause death and long-term disability, can circumvent vaccines and has the capacity to reinfect people multiple times each year.

The B.C. government health establishment has argued—in the face of a tremendous amount of research evidence to the contrary—that because they believe that masks harm children’s mental health and lead to substance use(!), these mouth and nose coverings should not be required in schools. is same government health establishment has maintained that there’s a “debate” over whether COVID-19 is airborne, as with measles and tuberculosis. is comment came a er a couple of researchers at B.C. Children’s Hospital wrote a letter to the Lancet questioning a landmark paper, a letter that was promptly rebutted by the paper’s authors.

Yet health authority sta can thumb their noses at a growing body of scienti c research about how COVID-19 is transmitted and o er advice willy-nilly about masks to school boards without any consequences.

A pandemic that has claimed more than 3,000 B.C. lives is being overseen in a haphazard, highly decentralized manner devoid of any real political or scienti c accountability. In many cases, those who Physicians and Surgeons of B.C. isn’t going to take away anyone’s medical licence for misleading the public in health-authority communications about how COVID-19 is being transmitted. Politicians have a few options to consider in advance of the next election. ey include: 1. Consult with Protect Our Province B.C., which has dedicated itself to providing evidence-based information to reduce the spread of COVID-19, to hear how it thinks this enormously challenging public-policy issue should be addressed. 2. Hold public meetings in each of the health regions asking a simple question: how can we make the delivery of health services more democratic and accountable? You never know what you might hear until you ask people for their opinions. 3. Consult with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of B.C. to determine whether it’s possible to issue practice directives to physicians or even requirements for continuing education for government epidemiologists. 4. Invite academic experts on governance to share their ideas on how to address the issue of unaccountable health authorities acting with impunity. What we’ve witnessed in B.C. is a system failure rooted in part in governance. While we might get lucky and avoid the worst onslaught of the pandemic this summer because of high vaccination rates and more people spending time outdoors, it’s quite possible that we’ll be back in COVID-19 hell by the fall. As long as there’s a refusal by government health o cials to respond to airborne transmission in a serious way, this issue will never go away. at’s why it’s incumbent on all of us to devote just as much attention to nding solutions as we have done to highlighting what’s gone so terribly wrong. g

April 14-21 / 2022

7 COVER

Politicians are pledging a massive increase in the housing supply, but are there enough construction workers to make these promises a reality? By Charlie Smith Cover photo by Gregory Abraszko

5 HOUSING

One of the top-ranked properties on the Vancouver Heritage Register is on the market for $4.5 million after selling last year for $2.9 million. By Carlito Pablo

10 ARTS

The Vancouver Art Gallery is mounting an exhibit of rare photographic art in memory of a local donor who notably upgraded its collection. By Martin Dunphy

e Start Here 9 ARTS 14 CLASSIFIED ADS 12 DANCE 8 FOOD 2 HEALTH 4 HOUSING 8 LIQUOR 12 MUSIC 6 REAL ESTATE 13 SAVAGE LOVE 11 THEATRE

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