Annual Report 1997

1997 Annual Report

What's Inside...

MOH Report
Chronic Diseases & Injuries *
Infectious Diseases *
Environment Program *
'97/'98 Expenditures & Funding *
'97 Board of Health

* Call us for a copy of the 1997 Annual Report (1-800-263-3456)

Medical Officer of Health

During 1997, public health became more crucial to our community. The year brought uncertainty and stress for many people and organizations. People faced unemployment, some families coped with two working parents and high daycare costs, divorce rates increased. Municipal governments underwent huge changes because of provincial program downloading, municipal amalgamations, new tax assessment regulations, and budget worries. Many health care programs shifted out of the hospitals to the private sector, to volunteers and to families. It therefore became more important to prevent sickness and the resulting strain sickness brings to a community.

The goal of public health is prevention of disease, promotion of health and health protection. While only 2% of the total health-care budget in Ontario was spent on prevention in 1997, the Grey Bruce Health Unit managed to deliver good value. All the programs you see in this report cost less than $30 per person for the entire year. This feat was accomplished only because of the tremendous efforts of our staff. Add to that the savings generated by preventing problems:

Every $1 spent on preventing teen pregnancies saves $10 in medical, nutrition and welfare costs.
Every $1 spent on vaccination saves $8 in health care costs.
Every $1 spent on preventing low-birth weight babies saves $3 in health care costs.

Public Health operates, however, under the two-edged sword of being invisible when doing a good job: we feel successful when we've averted public health epidemics and catastrophes, yet then fear funding cuts because the public and politicians don't know who we are or what we do. So, in 1997 we worked with municipalities and the media to help people better understand our programs and services, something we've done little of before.

Just a few of the successes we would like to highlight include:

99% of private sewage systems installed have been problem-free, and operated satisfactorily for 10 years or more.
Zero cases of measles in 1997 ( 36 cases in 1995 and as high as 167 cases in 1991).
A research study on the amount and distribution of tritium in the drinking water along the Lake Huron shoreline.
A new record: not a single rabid fox in Grey and Bruce Counties in 1997! In the past, we experienced the highest incidence of rabies in the province. The Public Health Unit and its partners attained this dramatic reduction through a baiting program.
Three project proposals to benefit Grey and Bruce Counties and Owen Sound: one to prevent heart disease, the second to help families with high-risk infants, and the third to focus on injuries and alcohol abuse.

Other Happenings:

Home Care and the Placement Coordination Service left the Health Unit; they were placed under an independent Board.
In light of the plan to shift funding for Public Health from the province to the municipalities, the Health Protection and Promotion Act (HPPA) was revised. In particular, the Mandatory Program Guidelines within the HPPA were rewritten. These guidelines set the minimum requirements for health programs and services targeted at prevention of disease, health promotion and health protection. The new guidelines spell out in detail the amount and quality of public health to be delivered by the municipalities when they become solely responsible for funding. As a result of the revisions, the Public Health Unit restructured its delivery of programs to follow the three key areas of the guidelines: Prevention of Chronic Diseases and Injuries, Family Health, and Infectious Diseases. The new guidelines outline the minimum service levels that are to be provided. Other programs that suit local needs can certainly be added.

As we enter 1998, we are faced with challenges that turn our eye to the world at large. Free trade, increased recreational travel and global corporations have made the transportation of disease easy. Products produced in countries without our level of public health can readily enter our country making it difficult to fight parasites, deadly viruses and bacteria. Antibiotic resistant bacteria are on the increase. AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases can spread in Grey and Bruce Counties as easily as they can elsewhere?

Even though we are proud of our success over the past year, we realize disease waits for no one. It appears where it is allowed. Prevention is its enemy and that is what public health is all about. "PREVENTION IS THE INTENTION."

Dr. Murray McQuigge
Medical Officer of Health

1997 Board of Health

Keith Campbell, Warden - Bruce	Carol Lawrence, Grey
Bob Mackie, Bruce	Diane Gervais, Grey
Carl Noble, Bruce	Ruth Lovell - Chairperson, City
Carm Fullerton, Bruce	Marg Gaviller, City
Delton Becker, Warden - Grey	Shirley Watkinson, Provincial Appointee
Gerald Rogers, Grey	Sheryl Cummings, Provincial Appointee