The author is an emergency pediatrician and assistant professor in the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at McGill University. He is involved in the Soignons la justice sociale collective and wrote the award-winning book “No More Uprooted Indigenous Children. To put an end to Canadian medical colonialism” (Lux Éditeur, 2021).
At the start of the pandemic, Francis Legault hadclear : “I am proud to see the solidarity, collaboration and mutual aid currently prevailing in Quebec, particularly in the health and social services network. »
Despite long-flooded morale — and worsened by the pandemic — this resilience is still present within healthcare facilities to help staff cope with the current severe pediatric crisis. The network responded for yet another time.
In return, the Prime Minister’s good wishes have been replaced by old reflexes shared by a good part of the political class: a neoliberal approach advocating individual freedoms and privatization that will further bleed the public system. It is these values that are sadly part of the dominant discourse in Quebec that risk being bequeathed to our children. The goal of getting through the pandemic crisis collectively — without leaving anyone behind — is under strain.
Certain groups of children (from impoverished families or living with disabilities and chronic illnesses, Aboriginals and certain racialized groups, migrants, etc.) have more precarious health and/or access to health care. A published study this summer by a team from the CHU Sainte-Justine shows that children living in the most disadvantaged areas of Montreal were more at risk of contracting COVID-19 during the first waves of the pandemic. Their hospitalization rate was also twice that of children living in the most privileged areas.
A report from the Advisory Committee National Immunization (NACI) poron RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) identified this summer several groups of infants at risk of hospitalization and death: premature, Inuit, those with a chronic disease (pulmonary, congenital heart disease, immunocompromised).
The Dr Saleem Razack has just completed his term as Chief Medical Officer of the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at the Montreal Children’s Hospital, where he worked for almost 30 years. It confirms to me that the current crisis is hitting vulnerable children — and “vulnerable” children — disproportionately. Without enough paid sick days, often already marginalized families (“guardian angels”, child care workers, people doing precarious work, etc.) see the consequences of these health inequities magnified. The public healthcare system can help mitigate societal inequities, but we need to decrease viral transmission in order to keep it afloat.
The “layering” of public health protections for COVID-19 should calm the viral storm we are currently experiencing. The announcement of free influenza vaccine for everyone is good news, but the universal wearing of masks in busy enclosed spaces, including schools, is necessary to protect our children and our health care system. .
Public Health in Quebec belatedly recognized the airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2. On what basis does she now justify her refusal to recommend wearing a mask in schools? The national director of public health explained that this decision stems from “many discussions with pediatricians”. However, there are pediatricians in Canada and Quebec who advocate the opposite. The Dr Jesse Papenburg, pediatric infectious disease specialist and outstanding popularizer, praises the merits of the port universal of the mask, including school, as a transitional measure to get through this crisis. It thus supports the recommendation of the College of Physicians of Quebec.
The position of public health is perplexing since there is no convincing study that demonstrates the harmfulness of wearing a mask in the school environment. In return, a vast innovative study published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine this month demonstrates that universal mask wearing reduced COVID-19 rates during the first Omicron wave in the Boston metro area.
The editorial that accompanies the study explains that universal mask-wearing spreads a low cost across society while limiting the harmful consequences of COVID-19 on populations that have already been made vulnerable by structural racism. and other inequalities, including in schools. In short, a solidarity approach is a political… and societal decision.
The DD Joanne Liu, emergency pediatrician, former president of Doctors Without Borders and world-renowned expert in pandemic management, explains to me that acting in “solidarity with each other is fundamental to collectively emerging as unscathed as possible from this pandemic and also to deal with current cross-border threats”, in particular the climate emergency. She often talks about the importance of give space to young people so that they exercise their leadership.
During the Omicron wave, students led protests for collective health and safety in the face of COVID-19 to ACnada and in the United States. In an interview, Chicago Public Schools Radical Youth Alliance (Chi-RADS) member Catlyn Savado said, “You don’t leave your humanity at the door when you walk into school. »
The responsible and benevolent example of these young people offers us a great lesson for taking action. In the face of the current pediatric crisis, solidarity remains our best tool to ensure that no child will be left behind. Are public health authorities and the Quebec government listening? Is the population ready to show solidarity, this time for the good of our children? We do not have time to lose.