Nova Scotia fumbled response to mumps outbreak: auditor general

Nova Scotia's auditor general came down hard on the provincial department responsible for disease prevention and control in his semi-annual report released Wednesday.

Jacques Lapointe found that the Department of Health Promotion and Protection had no plan in place to deal with a recent outbreak of mumps.

The report described the department's response to the outbreak last February as "less than timely."

"I'd characterize it as having been handled in a manner that simply wasn't sufficient of what it should have been," Lapointe said. "Given the resources that are available, and given the knowledge that was available for a previous event."

For example, the report said, there was no plan to immunize health-care workers, and that only happened two months into the outbreak.

Also, the report found the department took more than two months to set up a 1-800 line to provide information on the outbreak.

As of Jan. 18, there were 777 cases of mumps reported in Nova Scotia.

The department replied that it is working on making the changes necessary to respond faster to future threats.

Health Promotion and Protection Minister Barry Barnet said he believes his department did good work during the mumps outbreak.

"Well, I think we did a great job. In fact, evidence of that points to the fact that other jurisdictions have used the things that we have done as opportunities for them to learn," he said.

"You know, the things we've been able to do here in Nova Scotia have helped other jurisdictions and I think that speaks to the fact that we've done a good job."

However, Barnet said his department will look at how the auditor general's recommendations can be implemented.

But New Democrat MLA Graham Steele said the report's findings mean Premier Rodney MacDonald can no longer say his government is ready to face a pandemic.

"We can't stand here and say that it would have been better if all of these proper procedures had been followed, but the government can't stand up and say that none of this stuff mattered," Steele said.

"And if the mumps outbreak is a dry run for a pandemic, then we've got a lot of work to do to make sure that we're ready for a future outbreak that might be a lot worse than this one."

The audit also found the province's system for storing and handling vaccines is not up to scratch. Auditors examined the province's ability to track immunizations, distribute vaccines, and prepare for and handle a disease outbreak.

Lapointe found that overall planning within the Department of Health Promotion and Protection to be inadequate. It also found that in terms of immunizations, information is incomplete and records are mostly kept on paper.

The report concludes that in the event of an outbreak, or a compromised vaccine, the department might not be able to identify people who were not immunized or received compromised vaccines.

Also, the report found that vaccines are being transported across the province in a way that does not comply with provincial policy.

Vaccines should be shipped with temperature monitors to ensure they are properly cooled, the report said, but that's not happening. The report said there was a risk vaccines would lose their effectiveness.

"This could result in individuals having reduced or no immunity to an illness they assume they have been properly vaccinated against," it stated.

The department said public safety is not being compromised when it comes to vaccine storage and handling.