FREDERICTON | Plans are now underway in New Brunswick to run a seasonal vaccine public awareness campaign. New Brunswick is spending more than $17 million acquiring and distributing the H1N1 vaccine.

Where, when and how it will be delivered will soon be broadcast on the government’s go-to website for H1N1 (www.gnb.ca/flu).

Much of this province’s strategy draws on federal guidelines to establish H1N1 flu vaccination clinics across the province, chief medical officer of health Dr. Eilish Cleary has said.

But these guidelines are “intended to be adapted as needed,” Dr. Cleary added.

According to health department officials, physicians will continue to be compensated through “normal remuneration.” They’ve been discussing with the New Brunswick Medical Society (NBMS) a compensation package for non-salaried physicians suffering undue financial hardship as a result of responding to a pandemic.

Department officials await confirmation of details contained in the package now reportedly in the hands of the NBMS, though fee-for-service, alternate payment and physicians otherwise without benefits will be responsible for their own disability coverage.

Physicians are also largely responsible for supplies in their private offices and practices. Those working in regional health authorities (RHAs) will be supplied with masks and other related equipment. Physicians in RHAs or other government positions who have opted to take full benefits are entitled to disability coverage.

Nova Scotia forms last-minute committee

Here’s hoping things have meaningfully improved since the government of Nova Scotia, in the wake of a damning report in which the auditor general said his province is “ill-prepared” to handle a pandemic because of a lack of leadership and co-ordination, hastily formed a top-level committee to tackle just that.

In the summer report that made 33 recommendations, auditor general Jacques Lapointe pointed particularly to the lack of stockpiles of medical and other supplies he said are needed to manage the pandemic. More than half the family and emergency doctors he surveyed were not happy with their ability to obtain critical supplies.

In August, Minister of Service Nova Scotia Ramona Jennex said she would chair the leadership committee and its membership would include the deputy premier and the health minister, among others. But in a short mid-September members’ letter, Doctors Nova Scotia President Dr. Ross Leighton observed the continued presence of some big concerns, however.

“As with any pandemic, the exact timing, extent of spread and severity of illness are all unknown,” he wrote. “This creates significant challenges when planning and has left many questions unanswered.”

Department of health senior physician adviser Dr. Ken Buchholz and chief public health officer Dr. Robert Strang have produced an H1N1 physician update outlining epidemiology, immunization, vaccine sequencing, pregnancy and communication aspects, Dr. Leighton said. He urges members to consult the association’s website (www.doctorsns.com) for regular updates.

P.E.I. wants all health-workers vaccinated

As of the start of September, 13 H1N1 cases had been reported across P.E.I., all of them mild, said chief health officer Dr. Heather Morrison in a Sept. 3 media briefing.

“As part of our ongoing surveillance and planning, we will be working with the department of education to track absenteeism rates in schools, and we continue planning around influenza assessment sites, antiviral distribution and vaccination clinics,” said Dr. Morrison.

In an August 18 update to physicians and other health professionals, assistant deputy health minister Teresa Henneberry urged all health-care workers to be vaccinated. “It’s important for all of us to prepare for the expected future increase in illness,” she said.

N.L. bets on prevention

Newfoundland and Labrador is a province that is playing the prevention card.

“Prevention remains the most effective measure to help protect against influenza,” stated a July 21 health and community services news release.

Provincial officials ordered more than 750,000 doses of vaccine, sharing $2.4 million of the $6 million cost with the federal government.

Government authorities have been planning a response to an influenza pandemic since at least November 2007, when guidelines, roles and responsibilities were laid out for the health sector.

“We’re now building on the plans we have in place as we work diligently to prepare our health system for a potentially more serious and widespread outbreak of the virus in the fall,” Health Minister Paul Oram said in making an August announcement.

“We must continue with our personal prevention efforts to reduce the risk of becoming infected with the virus and spreading it to others,” said provincial chief medical officer of health Dr. Faith Stratton.