Canada is on track to lose its place among the nations that have eliminated measles, as international health officials convene this week to review that designation, which experts call a measure of a country’s overall pandemic preparedness.
In October 2024, measles cases appeared, as happens in many countries. Since then, though, the virus has spread countrywide for a year. Declining vaccination rates and increased skepticism of public health messaging since the Covid-19 pandemic have been factors, experts say.
But The New York Times found that at critical points, as measles was gaining new footholds in Canada, provincial politicians stopped public health officials from speaking out about the value of getting vaccinated. That tension between politics and health policy is playing out globally.
While Ontario is the province with the most cases, the western province of Alberta has reported an outsized number for its population — the highest concentration in the country.
Alberta’s top government doctor was stopped from speaking publicly about the problem, according to interviews. Emails obtained through a public records request show the doctor urging the government to ramp up its messaging weeks before the virus arrived.
The post Canada Is About to Lose Its Status as Having Eliminated Measles appeared first on New York Times.
