WATCH: Ebola, superbugs, and e-cigarettes are some of things Dr. Gregory Taylor discusses as he takes on his new role as Canada’s new chief public health officer
TORONTO – Fighting Ebola, staving off chronic disease and fortifying the public health care system for the future. Dr. Gregory Taylor is Canada’s new chief public health officer and for his five year appointment, he has ambitious plans.
On Wednesday, Minister of Health Rona Ambrose announced Taylor’s new posting as the country’s leading public health voice. He’ll play a key a role in public health matters from chronic disease to emergency preparedness.
During a one-on-one interview with Global News, he shed light on what he plans to do during his term.
Fighting Ebola
It’s swept through West Africa and is believed to have sickened more than 5,300 people, according to the World Health Organization. The Ebola outbreak is estimated to have killed more than 2,600 people in Liberia, Guinea, Nigeria and Sierra Leone.
The WHO even suggests its numbers are a gross underestimate. Taylor said that protecting Canadians from Ebola is his immediate priority.
READ MORE: How Canadian docs are fighting Ebola during the world’s worst outbreak
And he’s tackling the global concern in a three-pronged approach: for starters, at the source in West Africa. Canada’s already donated $5 million to the cause, including $2.5 million in protective equipment. On the home front, Canada is also vigilantly watching its borders – quarantine regulations ensure that sick travellers coming into the country have to report to officials at the Canada Border Services Agency, Taylor said.
Finally, he’s working on making sure the country’s frontline health care workers are ready, and with the right resources to address a potential outbreak. Right now, the government’s microbiology lab in Winnipeg is the only lab capable of diagnosing Ebola – Taylor plans on changing that.
“We’re actually giving capacity to other labs across the country so they’re able to make the preliminary diagnosis much faster,” he told Global News. He’s also collaborating with doctors so they’re up to date on how to treat and protect against the deadly virus.
Chronic diseases
Heart disease, diabetes, obesity. There’s a laundry list of chronic diseases that is on Taylor’s radar.
As a family medicine practitioner at the start of his career, Taylor noticed that patients would prefer to stay healthy and avoid the doctor than to receive top-notch assistance under his care.
READ MORE: Less than 1 in 10 Canadians have ‘ideal’ heart health, study warns
During SARS in 2003, he noted that it was patients with chronic diseases who tended to die from the disease. He said that his term would include addressing healthy living – it’s the cornerstone of keeping away all chronic conditions.
“Sugar content can help drive diabetes, diabetes causes increased risk for heart disease…it’s all sort of interconnected so focusing on how Canadians can be as healthy as they can will prevent that,” he said.
Preparing public health for the future
Changing gears from a practicing physician to a public health official used to signify an early retirement for doctors, according to Taylor. That’s not necessarily the case anymore with a bustling, growing public health department he’s now at the helm of.
And the growth is happening at a pivotal time, he suggested. Ebola, which researchers have worked with for decades, has always been in isolated pockets. This time around, it’s spreading like wildfire in a months-long outbreak that doesn’t seem to be letting up.
READ MORE: What will help doctors improve their patient care?
“We can never predict what’s going to happen so we need to be prepared for the future. We need to have our practitioners prepared for things they don’t know about today,” he said.
Lyme disease, for example, has spread. West Nile, which isn’t typically in Canada, is now commonplace.
“Our skill sets have needed to adapt and change and will continue to change,” he said.
carmen.chai@globalnews.ca
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