Ottawa Board
of Health Meeting
Notes for Chair Shad Qadri’s Verbal Report
Monday, November 19, 2018
Good evening everyone, Bonsoir,
Thank you for being here tonight.
This evening I would like to highlight
OPH’s role and hard work as part of the broader city response to the Tornado
that affected several of our communities in September; update you on the 2018/
2019 Flu Immunization Clinics; and highlight a seasonal influenza campaign
event that took place on November 1st at City Hall.
As you will recall, on September 21st, a series of
powerful storms swept through the Ottawa–Gatineau region. Environment Canada
confirmed a Tornado moved through Ottawa’s Arlington Woods neighbourhood and
another hit the community of Dunrobin.
On September 22nd, Hydro
Ottawa reported a multi-day restoration as more than 170 thousand customers
were affected by widespread power outages.
Our dedicated Public Health
team, including inspectors, nurses, physicians, and communications, IT and
administrative support professionals collaborated with other city department
colleagues as well as community stakeholders throughout the response and
continued to do so into the recovery stage.
I would like to acknowledge
these dedicated professionals for their work and commitment in ensuring Ottawa
residents received the information and support they needed.
OPH staff created a
centralized content web page at OttawaPublicHealth.ca “forward slash” Tornado
and echoed these important messages on all our social media channels and communication
platforms. Topics included:
·
Food safety and security during a power outage;
·
Mental health resources; and
·
How to protecting your health during clean-up
efforts.
Working with the Hospital
Emergency Planning Committee of Ottawa (HEPCO), OPH communicated with Long-Term
Care and retirement homes and supported physicians and health care providers
regarding vaccine cold-chain requirements.
OPH staff were at the
emergency reception and lodging centers and Community Support and Services
Centers, to care for and comfort Ottawa residents. 2700+ hours of OPH employee
time was dedicated to the storm response.
In addition, a specialized group of OPH members,
city partners and community stakeholders came together to create the Vulnerable
Person Taskforce, which included going door-to-door to check on residents in
our most affected communities. OPH now participates in the After the Storm
table as well as working with the United Way, Community Health Centres and
Community Resource Centres in affected areas, as we recover as a City.
On behalf of the Board of
Health, Thank you for all that you have contributed.
Next, I would like to
announce that as of today, Nov 19th, Ottawa Public Health has completed its ten
community flu immunization clinics and 5 hospital-based clinics. OPH is also
collaborating with Community Health Centres to provide 23 outreach flu shot
clinics for residents in group homes, shelters and residential care facilities.
Overall, attendance
increased by approximately 30 percent from last year – largely attributed to
older adults and families with younger children. As of today, OPH has provided
more than 6000 doses of flu vaccine in the past five weeks, compared to just
over 6900 doses in total for the entire 2017-2018 season, and distributed over
210,000 doses to physicians’ offices
For those who missed the
clinics, the flu vaccine is still available through family physicians,
participating pharmacies and, for families with children under 5 years of age,
it is available by appointment at our Immunization Clinic located at 100
Constellation Drive and this will continue into the New Year.
Lastly, OPH officially
kicked off the seasonal influenza vaccine campaign on November 1st at City
Hall. On that day, I joined Dr. Vera Etches, Mayor Jim Watson, Federal Health
Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Chief Public Health Officer of Canada Dr.
Theresa Tam, Director of Practice Advancement and Research of the Canadian
Pharmacists Association, Mr. Phil Emberley, and many Medical Officers of Health
from some of Canada’s biggest cities who were in town for a conference. This
launch event brought together some of Canada’s prominent health officials to
highlight the importance of annual flu immunization to protect ourselves and
those who may be at higher risk of complications from the flu, such as elderly
parents or grandparents, infants and young children. A special thank you to
OPH nurses Danielle Charbonneau and Diana Romero who were on-hand to provide
the Minister and other attendees with their influenza vaccine for the year.
In closing, as this is our
last Board of Health meeting for this term, I would like to thank all of you
for your contributions over this past term and your commitment to public health
in our community. It has been a pleasure and an honour to have served with you
on this Board.
That concludes my verbal report. I
welcome any questions.
Ottawa Board
of Health Meeting
Notes for Dr. Vera Etches Verbal Report
Monday, November 19, 2018
Thank you Chair.
With regard to influenza, I would like
to take this opportunity to recognize that we are at the 100th
anniversary mark of the Spanish influenza pandemic in Canada, which led to
about 55,000 Canadians dying, — unusually for influenza, with great impact on
young adults between 20-40 years of age, in addition to the impact on infants
and toddlers and the elderly. The influenza pandemic not only had significant
social and economic impacts, affecting families and the workforce, it also
contributed to the development of public health in Canada, leading to the
creation of the Federal Department of Health in 1919.
Locally, public health nurses and
others were involved in responding to and trying to contain the infection in
Ottawa. Many community volunteers also worked tirelessly and put themselves at
risk to help families that could not care for themselves. On November 23, 1918,
The Globe and Mail reported that 570 people had died in Ottawa during the
pandemic to date - a death rate of 548 per 100,000. This is a contrast with
data from last year’s flu season where there were 34 reported deaths due to
influenza in Ottawa, for a death rate of 3.4 deaths per 100,000. The reduced
rate of death and serious illness from the flu over the last century is a
testament to improved health and public health systems, including access to
influenza vaccine, as well as improvements in social conditions. Yet, the 1918
pandemic remains a warning for us about how infectious diseases can have
significant impact on society. Il est important de maintenir la capacité de santé
publique afin de lutter contre les maladies infectieuses.
Thinking ahead to the beginning of
next month, and World AIDS Day on December 1 and the Aboriginal AIDS Awareness
Week, you each have a card with a red ribbon attached. Je vous encourage de porter le ruban
pour montrer votre soutien aux personnes vivant avec le VIH et en souvenir de
ceux qui sont décédés. I
encourage you to wear the ribbon to show support for people living with HIV and
in remembrance of those who have died. The campaign to raise awareness and
decrease stigma is called “Rock the Red Ribbon” this year.
Now, Chair, I would like to provide
some updates on the new provincial Cannabis Legislation and OPH’s role since
legalization, the new Consumption and Treatment Services (CTS) guidelines and
the Urban Public Health Network (UPHN) meeting recently held in Ottawa.
With respect to cannabis legalization,
OPH launched health promotion campaigns, using ‘Blunt Fact’ and ‘Toke Joke’ tag
lines, to provide the public with information on cannabis and how it can affect
their health.
Since September, the campaigns have
reached over 160,000 residents through social media. The campaign
advertisements have resulted in over 8,000 views to OPH’s cannabis information
webpages. OPH has received multiple requests for presentations on cannabis from
a variety of community organizations, demonstrating OPH’s role as a source of
credible information on cannabis.
OPH has collaborated with local
treatment services, including Service Access to Recovery, Rideauwood Addictions
and Family Services, and Maison Fraternité, to provide social media promotion
of their services in order to increase residents’ awareness of where to go for
help with problematic cannabis use.
De plus, SPO a collaboré avec
les quatre conseils scolaires d'Ottawa pour offrir des séances d'information
aux parents francophones et anglophones à travers la ville, touchant ainsi près
de 400 parents. The
information sessions provide parents with information and tips on how to talk
early, often and openly about cannabis. OPH developed a youth resource, as well
as information for parents and teachers, that was provided to all four Ottawa
school boards.
In late October, the Ontario Ministry
of Health and Long-Term Care announced a new way forward for supervised drug
consumption following the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care’s review of
Supervised Consumptions Services in Ontario. We are encouraged that the
provincial government’s review showed how vital these services are for people
and communities, especially in response to the opioid crisis.
Under the new Consumption
and Treatment Services model, OPH is ready to work with the government to
continue to develop integrated and seamless services for people who use drugs,
including connections to substance use and treatment services, mental health
services, and social supports that they might need. Therefore, OPH is currently
working with the Ministry, and coordinating with other local service providers
to determine next steps for the re-application process under the new
Consumption and Treatment Services model.
On November 1st
and 2nd, Ottawa Public Health hosted The Urban Public Health Network
meeting in Ottawa, which involves Medical Officers of Health from 21 of
Canada’s large urban centers sharing best practices in public health. Travaillant en
collaboration et d'une voix collective, le réseau s'attaque aux problèmes de
santé publique communs aux populations urbaines.
Some topics of discussion
were:
·
Strategic planning
·
Canadian Drug Strategy
·
Healthy Cities
·
Violence and
·
Climate change
In conclusion, as this is
the last scheduled meeting of the current Board of Health, I too would like to
express that it has been a pleasure to work with you all over the last four
years and, speaking for myself, for my predecessor, Dr. Isra Levy, and all the
staff of Ottawa Public Health, I would like to thank each of you for your
support and guidance throughout this term.
Vous avez fourni un
leadership stratégique pour améliorer la santé de la population. Merci.
Chair that concludes my
verbal report. I am happy to answer any questions.