H1N1 overplayed by media, public health: MDs

Public health officials and journalists have overstated the importance of the swine flu, a former Ontario chief medical officer of health says.
Dr. Richard Schabas, chief medical officer of health for Hastings and Prince Edward Counties in eastern Ontario, said the H1N1 influenza outbreak needs to be put into proper perspective.
About 200,000 people die in Canada every year from all causes combined, including about 4,000 from seasonal flu.
"By the time all the dust has settled on H1N1, somewhere between 200 and 300 people will have died in this country," Schabas said Thursday during a panel on media coverage of H1N1 on CBC-TV's The National.
Schabas criticized the media for not trying to put the story into perspective, and for being "a little too easy to spin sometimes" by public health officials.
"I'm not letting the media off the hook totally, but I think the real villains of the piece here have been those public health officials who have consistently overplayed and overstated the importance of what is happening," he said.
"By the time all is said and done, this is not a major public health event, but you'd never know that from what some people are saying."

13-year-old's death

The panel also looked at the front-page coverage given to the death of Evan Frustaglio, a 13-year-old hockey player from Toronto. Evan died on the eve of the H1N1 vaccine becoming available, and demand for the vaccine jumped overnight, catching health officials by surprise.
"It was very clear when we were reporting the lines that most of the people in there did say, 'We came because we saw the story about that little boy,' " CBC reporter Ioanna Roumeliotis said.
Evan's death and his grieving father's plea to parents to consider vaccinating their children was a tremendous human interest story, agreed Dr. Allison McGeer, an infectious disease specialist at Toronto's Mount Sinai Hospital.
But "I'm quite sure that the people who were reporting that didn't necessarily think about what the consequences of that would be or the context that was in," McGeer said. "What we saw afterwards was that it caused an enormous amount of fear and anxiety that we would all like not to have seen."
A healthy child in Canada is about 20 times more likely to be killed by a car than by the H1N1 virus, Schabas said, but that isn't going to make the national news.
"Children actually die of flu every year and a few more die of H1N1. This was not unexpected, and the way it was presented — as if this was a sudden bolt out of the blue, some change in our perspective of H1N1 — that's what created the anxiety. It was the way it was presented."

Source: http://www.cbc.ca/health/
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Toronto to host 2015 Pan Am Games

It's mission accomplished for Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty, Toronto Mayor David Miller and all other members of the delegation supporting Toronto's bid to host the 2015 Pan Am Games.
On the first ballot of Friday's vote in Guadalajara, Mexico, Toronto was tapped as the host city.
"Our commitment, our pledge, our undertaking, our promise is to provide you with the best Pan Am Games ever," McGuinty told delegates after the results were announced. "It's an exciting time for so many of us here."
Miller also took the podium to express his gratitude for the first-ballot win.
"I would like to say thanks for all of the confidence shown in Toronto," Miller said. "See you all in 2015."
Bid adviser Bob Richardson said before the vote that he was confident his team did all it could to sell the region to Pan American Sports Organization voters.
It seems they did just that, beating out the two other bidding cities — Lima, Peru, and Bogota, Colombia.

Facts and figures

The cost:
$1.4 billion, plus $1 billion for athletes' village
The contributors:
Federal government $500 million
Ontario government $500 million
Facilities:
$170-million aquatic and sports training centre at U of T
$150-million stadium in Hamilton
Four new Olympic-sized pools

In the final presentation held shortly before the vote, Miller asked that Toronto be given "the privilege" of hosting the Games, and said "it is Toronto's time."
McGuinty said Toronto would be proud to host the Games and that Pan Am officials would be proud of the job the city would do. "We are ready and we will deliver," McGuinty said.
It's welcome news for up-and-coming Canadian swimming star Amanda Reason.
"Myself, I've never competed internationally at home, so having home-field advantage is going to be fun if I make it," Reason told CBC News.
The 16-year-old owns the world record in the 50-metre breaststroke.
Chris Rudge, chief executive officer of the Canadian Olympic Committee, said bringing the Pan Am Games to Toronto will benefit summer athletes much the same as winter athletes have reaped the rewards of the 1988 Calgary Games and 2010 Olympics in Vancouver.
"Aside from the sport legacy that will drive us into the future, our goal is for Canada's summer athletes to continue the pattern of rising success at major competitions," Rudge said in a release. "This will be a Pan Am Games to watch."
"It's a stepping stone," said Canadian Olympic bronze medallist Priscilla Lopes-Schliep. "If you get this and prove yourself worthy … that would make it look good for getting a bid for future Olympics or even world championships."
Prime Minister Stephen Harper also sent his thanks and congratulations to the winning bid team, calling it "an exciting day for all Canadians."
"Canadians love sports and we are known for our hospitality, an unbeatable combination for successful Games," Harper said in a statement.
"Sports fans in Toronto and the Golden Horseshoe area are known for their passion and commitment. I am confident they will give a warm welcome to athletes from across the Americas."

Winning bid still faces opposition

Not everyone will be happy that the Games are heading to the Golden Horseshoe. The bid was opposed by groups that believe the $1.4-billion operating budget (plus another $1 billion for the athletes' village) is a large underestimation of what the final price tag will be for hosting the event.
The federal and provincial governments are expected to each contribute 35 per cent of the total, or some $500 million each. Municipalities and private investors are on the hook for the remaining $428.5 million.
In all, more than 50 venues and six new facilities are planned for the region, including $170 million for another aquatic and sports training centre at University of Toronto, a $150-million stadium in Hamilton and four new Olympic-sized pools.
The CBC's Tom Harrington said the winning bid will strengthen the support system for many amateur athletes.
"Toronto lacks the facilities amateur sport needs, and the infrastructure will help them a great deal," Harrington said.
Toronto's port lands will be a focal point of the event, and the housing and facilities constructed for athletes in that area are pledged to become mixed-use homes upon the completion of the Games.
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Cougar crash survivor says he was lucky

The sole survivor of a helicopter crash that killed 17 off the coast of Newfoundland this spring says he was lucky to survive the crash and believes that his training as a sailor may have helped.
"I think it was probably luck," said Robert Decker, 28. "I was young, healthy and fit when this happened. Maybe the way I braced against the seat helped. Also, I stayed calm and didn't panic. Many people know I'm a sailor. Many times I've been thrown overboard. I think it may have helped me escape."
Decker said the emergency offshore training he received before the crash was not sufficient.
"It wasn't enough to prepare people. I was lucky. I was near a window. It sank port-side down. I was on the starboard side.
"It could have been someone else who survived instead of me."
Decker remained calm during his testimony but fought back tears when he thanked the Cougar rescue crew that saved him. He urged the inquiry to find ways to improve safety. Family members of those who died were among the 90 people in the room where Decker testified. Some could be heard sobbing as he spoke.
"I will not be flying anymore but others will be and they deserve to do it safely," said Decker.
Decker said there are clearly problems with the immersion suits that passengers wear during helicopter flight offshore.
"These suits fit no one," said Decker. "Joke was one size fits no one."
Earlier Thursday Decker said he doesn't remember the moment the chopper hit the water.
"Next thing I remember, I was waking up in a submerged helicopter," Robert Decker, 28, told an inquiry into helicopter safety being held in St. John's Thursday. "It instantly filled with water. It was dark but you could see the lights of the passengers' suits."
Decker was the only survivor pulled from the Atlantic Ocean after Cougar Flight 491 crashed into the North Atlantic 55 kilometres southeast of St. John's on March 12.
He broke free from the sinking helicopter and struggled to the surface.
"It was a very long ascent to the surface. I could see it was getting brighter and brighter. I got to the surface and I thought, 'I survived a helicopter crash.' I was alarmed that this had happened."
On the surface, he saw debris from the helicopter and two inflated life-rafts.

Losing consciousness

Decker said he saw a fixed wing plane fly low over the crash site.
"I could smell the exhaust."
Decker said he was getting cold and losing consciousness because of the cold water.
He said it prevented him from putting on the gloves and hood of his survival suit.
He recalled a Cougar search-and-rescue crew arriving and a rescue crew member talking to him.
"He spoke with me and said he had to get another piece of gear," said Decker." I remember grabbing him and saying: 'Please don't leave me here,' and that is the last thing I remember."

Hoisted from 3-metre waves

Decker was hoisted out of frigid three-metre waves by a Cougar search-and-rescue crew member and flown to the Health Sciences Centre in St. John's with serious injuries. He stayed there for more than two weeks.
Only one other person, Alison Maher, 26, made it to the surface that day, but she did not survive.
Sixteen other people, flight crew and passengers, dropped 178 metres to the ocean floor inside the wrecked chopper.
Their bodies were later recovered by Transportation Safety Board of Canada investigators using a remotely operated underwater vehicle.
In a statement last Spring, Decker said he did not know what happened to Alison Maher.
Inquiry commisioner Robert Wells, a retired supreme court judge, warned lawyers that Decker didn't want to be asked questions about what happened to others on the helicopter.
He said Decker would speak to family members privately if they wanted to ask him questions.
The wreckage was also raised from the ocean floor for an ongoing TSB investigation. The board is trying to understand what went wrong and how to prevent it from happening again.
Speaking at the inquiry in late October, TSB official Wendy Tadros said the investigation is months from completion.

Source: http://cbc.ca/canada/
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Tories, Liberals match 2008 vote numbers: EKOS

The Conservatives and the Liberals are back where they were after last year's election in terms of support, according to the latest poll from EKOS.
The weekly poll, released exclusively to the CBC, shows the Conservative Party with the support of 37.4 per cent of decided respondents, just a fifth of a percentage point lower than their result in the vote on Oct. 14, 2008.
The Liberals, at 26.8 per cent, are just over half a percentage point above where they were under Stéphane Dion's leadership in the last election.
The poll indicates the NDP was down by about two percentage points from its election result while the Green Party gained more than three points. Experience, however, suggests the Green Party performs better in polls than at the ballot box, EKOS said.

Conservatives retain double-digit lead

The Conservatives still have a double-digit lead over the Liberals, with the support of 37.4 per cent of decided respondents, down from 38.4 per cent last week. Liberal support held steady at 26.8 per cent and the New Democratic Party saw support slip to 16.3 per cent from 16.7 per cent last week.
The Green Party had the support of 10 per cent, while the Bloc Québécois had 9.4 per cent support.
The automated telephone survey reached 3,327 people between Oct. 28 and Nov. 3. The results carry a margin of error of plus or minus 1.7 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

Source: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/
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