We are in the thick of unprecedented times. CHLPE members are at work on many dimensions of the COVID-19 crisis. Please check in regularly—or sign up for our newsletter to receive news, media, and event updates.
Now available free is Vulnerable: The Law, Policy and Ethics of COVID-19, published by the University of Ottawa Press. This book brings together 70 contributors from law, policy, ethics, medicine, health sciences, economics, management, and more. e-editions of Vulnerable are free of charge; print copies are available for purchase.
In November, CHLPE's Professor Jennifer Chandler (Law) and colleagues were awarded a major three-year grant from the European Research Area Networks (ERA-NET) for a multinational and multidisciplinary research project. The grant, worth CAD$1.26 million, is funded by Canadian, German and Swiss national funders, and will support research by a team representing neurosurgery, neuroengineering, rehabilitation engineering, philosophy, and patient policy and advocacy. The project will address intelligent neuroprostheses, which represent the next phase in the evolution of devices integrated with the brain.
On November 12 and 13 the Ottawa Hub for Harm Reduction and CHLPE hosted First, Do Less Harm, a two-day online conference on the law, policy, and ethics of harm reduction in areas including opioids, cannabis, tobacco, and others. Speakers were drawn both from universities and medical and front line harm reduction organizations. A special thanks to Professor Vanessa Gruben (Law), Director of the Hub! Videos of all panels are currently available at www.ottawahealthlaw.ca/pastevents.
The COVID-19 vaccine rollout will be one of the largest and most complex health initiatives in Canadian history. The CANImmunize app, brainchild of CHLPE's Dr. Kumanan Wilson, is poised to help monitor the safety and effectiveness of the vaccines while also allowing Canadians to easily store their vaccination history on their phones. Read more here:
CTV News
Ottawa Business Journal
www.canimmunize.ca
Canada has pre-ordered far more COVID-19 vaccine per capita, and from more potential suppliers, than any other country. And that includes the two manufacturers—Pifzer and Moderna—that recently reported promising results on the effectiveness of their products. But to international development organizations, Canada’s accomplishment is something else—a sign of how rich countries are “hoarding” coronavirus vaccine in a way that will deprive poorer nations for months or years. The moral question aside, they argue that that’s a self-defeating strategy given the risk that outbreaks will continue to occur in Canada until all countries have been sufficiently immunized. CHLPE's Jason Nickerson is cited in the National Post.
Full text >
Jason Nickerson also recently appeared on TVO's The Agenda – "Tracking Canada’s Vaccine Race":
Video >
...and before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs as part of their study on Vulnerabilities Created and Exacerbated by the COVID-19 Pandemic:
Video >
David Sweanor, Chair of CHLPE's External Advisory Committee and the first lawyer globally to work full-time in public policy advocacy against big tobacco, recently testified before the Parliament of Australia's Select Committee on Tobacco Harm Reduction. The brief transcript makes for an interesting conversation about the disruptive effect of vaping technologies on big tobacco companies:
Full transcript >
The politics of risk during the pandemic and the use of containment for people with mental health disorders.
