The way ahead for travel measures during public health emergencies: Lessons for BC from the COVID-19 pandemic

Summary: Travel measures (ranging from advisories to border closures) were applied to an unprecedented degree by virtually all countries during the COVID-19 pandemic. A broad range of evidence shows that managing the public health risks from travel was necessary during the pandemic to reduce virus introduction and onward transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and its variants of concern. However, without scientific principles or strong evidence base to draw upon, and faced with a fast-moving novel pathogen, real time decision-making was largely uncoordinated across jurisdictions and frequently changing. The results regarding public health goals were suboptimal. The impacts on the functioning of broader society were costly, inequitable and undermining of public trust. The search is on for evidence-informed, equitable, and effective ways of using travel measures during a public health emergency. This talk will review why travel and thus travel measures matter during a pandemic, emerging risk-based approaches to inform their use, and the implications for BC and other jurisdictions without authority over international borders. Presenters: Dr. Kelley Lee is Professor, Canada Research Chair in Global Health Governance, and Scientific Director of the Pacific Institute on Pathogens, Pandemics and Society (PIPPS). She is currently leading the Pandemics and Borders Project, co-chairing (with Professor Tim Evans) the Royal Society of Canada/Canadian Academy of Health Sciences Expert Panel on Canada’s Role in Global Health, and serving as a Commissioner on the National University of Singapore-Lancet Pandemic Readiness, Implementation, Monitoring, and Evaluation Commission. She is also a member of the Editorial Board of the WHO Global Report on the Commercial Determinants of Health. Jennifer Fang is a Research Fellow and Project Manager in the Pacific Institute on Pathogens, Pandemics and Society (PIPPS). Her research with the Pandemics and Borders Project focuses on supporting core capacities under the International Health Regulations at points of entry, and understanding equity impacts of travel measures applied at the Canada-US border. Jennifer also maintains research interests in commercial determinants of health including analysis of the Chinese tobacco industry. With lived experience spanning three different continents, she has a personal interest in issues around discrimination and racism. Jennifer holds a Bachelor in Nutritional Sciences from UBC and a Master of Public Health from the University of Liverpool.

Mediasite Presenter

5/30/2023 7:00:00 PM