Better late than never. This week’s announcement that the province is channelling $14 million over the next four years into a public education campaign to fight sexually transmitted infections like syphilis might have come years later than needed, but is another encouraging sign that the good ship Alberta Health Services is turning itself around under the helm of Health Minister Gene Zwozdesky.
Make no mistake; Alberta has suffered one heck of a black eye through its shameful failures in combating bacterial sexually transmitted infections like syphilis. In 2009 there were a total of 267 cases of syphilis — the highest rate in the country and marked a jump in just one decade when there were just two cases of STIs in the entire province. Two-thirds of those cases occurred in men, while 25 babies were born with congenital syphilis, which claimed nine lives. More statistics released by AHS Tuesday indicate Alberta also had 13,000 cases of chlamydia in 2009 — a 207 per cent increase in 10 years.
It would be easy to suggest Alberta was losing the fight against STIs, but in reality the province stopped fighting — period. A 2007 awareness campaign proved ineffective when it targeted prenatal testing, failing to realize many of the women with syphilis don’t always lead the kind of lifestyle where they seek prenatal care. Internally, AHS suffered a blow when the head of its STI program did not have her contract renewed. That was compounded further by a health minister, Ron Liepert, who emphasized personal responsibility and put less on education. And, earlier this year all Albertans listened with interest when Dr. Stan Houston, an expert on infectious diseases, accused top doctors in AHS of using intimidation tactics after doctors like him tried to speak up during the syphilis crisis. "I think that there's a long-standing culture of intimidation, sometimes quite vindictive responses," he told the Edmonton Journal in March.
Given the province’s 10-year track record, the syphilis crisis cannot be blamed on one minister alone. Alberta’s younger population and its transient workforce in isolated areas like Fort McMurray have played a role. However, we can give credit where credit is due. Soon after taking over the health portfolio Zwozdesky made fighting STIs a priority. When The Syphilis Outbreak in Alberta report came out last December, the minister promised to take action. The $14 million includes an edgy advertising campaign warning high-risk groups like the 15- to 24-year-old crowd: Don’t You Get It. But even more important than edgy ads, $13 million over three years will go toward hiring the nurses and social workers needed to increase testing.
Whether the spending solution works remains to be seen but the relatively quick follow-up to the syphilis report is another encouraging sign that Zwozdesky is committed to turning AHS’ fortunes around. We saw it last month when he partially reversed the government’s decision to create a health superboard with five new regional bodies to restore much-needed flexibility. He’s not perfect, as evidenced by his refusal to implement a judicial review into the intimidation allegations, favouring the health council review that reports only to him and not to all Albertans through the legislature. The problems facing the health system are more complex than a syphilis outbreak and strong leadership will be needed to protect the public health. That hasn’t been the government’s strong suit, but Albertans should feel more comforted by the steps in the right direction.
