CHRONIC DISEASE AND INJURY PREVENTION
(Manager, Neil MacKenzie)

Tobacco

The month of December is full of learning opportunities and new experiences for tobacco staff at the Health Unit.  Here is an update with some of the highlights:

Enforcement - Overall, enforcement staff at the Health Unit are continuing their efforts to ensure compliance with all aspects of the legislation.  As the year draws to a close we are working towards ensuring that all tobacco vendors in the area have received the required number of enforcement checks this year and that compliance is being maintained.  As the colder weather increases, there are situations which may lead to breaches of compliance (i.e. smoking in a prohibited area), and enforcement staff are working towards ensuring that all employers and proprietors are clear of what the requirements are under the legislation and to ensure that they understand that they will be held accountable if these requirements are not met.  As of December 01, there were a total of 93 Part I charges and 4 Part III charges.

Ministry of Finance – Joint Visits - The Health Unit has continued working in partnership with the Tobacco Tax Branch of the Ministry of Finance to conduct joint enforcement visits in Windsor-Essex.  The last rounds of visits were held at the end of November and were once again successful for both agencies.  The next set of visits will be scheduled for sometime in February 2007.

OTC Conference – Niagara Falls – From December 03-05, some of the tobacco enforcement staff and management attended the Ontario Tobacco Control Conference hosted by the Ministry of Health Promotion and the PTCC in Niagara Falls.  The conference featured guest speakers including the Minister of Health, Mr. Jim Watson and Dr. Peter Selby from CAMH that covered a variety of hot topics in tobacco control.  As a part of the concurrent sessions offered at the three-day conference, Neil Mackenzie and Kristy Boyce presented on the Smoke Free in W-E campaign created in Windsor-Essex during the implementation of the Smoke Free Ontario Act (SFOA).  The presentation was well attended and positive feedback resulted.  Not only was this a beneficial networking opportunity but offered a unique look into the future of tobacco control and a look at our accomplishments to date.

Project Director – Denis Gertler Visit - As a result of an invitation from management at the Health Unit, Mr. Denis Gertler, Project Director for SFOA, will be visiting Windsor-Essex on Friday, December 15.  The purpose of this visit is for Denis to get a better understanding for the uniqueness of Windsor-Essex County in Ontario due to our border community status and history in regards to smoke free legislation.  (No previous by-laws in City of Windsor.)  During the visit, Health Unit managers will accompany Denis on a tour of our community and address specific Windsor-Essex issues related to enforcement and support of the SFOA.

Cessation and Mental Illness – Dr. Peter Selby, CAMH - On December 11, CAMH and PTCC hosted a workshop presented by Dr. Peter Selby of CAMH that was tailored towards mental health and addiction counseling for service providers.  At this workshop participants learned why smoking rates are very high among those with mental illness, discussed issues, challenges, and opportunities to promote smoking reduction or cessation among our clients, learned specific strategies for smoking reduction/cessation for this population, and had the opportunity to network with colleagues who share an interest in supporting smoking reduction or cessation.  This workshop was the result of efforts by the Mental Illness in Tobacco Team (MITT), a local group of which the Health Unit is a member and organizer alongside of CAMH, CMH, and other local agencies in the mental illness support field. 

Injury Prevention

Ontario Breast Screening Program (OBSP) - As a part of the Health Unit’s mandate to work with the Ontario Breast Screening Program (OBSP), we launched the ‘Lunch and Learn’ program that consists of 30 minute presentations that promote breast health and the OBSP.  The program is available to both male and female teachers within the public and separate school board systems in the city and county.  During the month of November there were eight presentations which all received positive initial evaluations.

Presentations - Additionally, the injury prevention program delivered a presentation to City of Windsor employees on the changes of healthy aging and chronic diseases.  As a result of this, additional requests for this type of presentation have been received from the University of Windsor for their faculty and will take place in the new year.

Road Safety Challenge 2007 - The Road Safety Challenge Week for 2007, taking place in May, is already in the early stages of the planning process.  The focus issue for next year’s challenge will be the issue of mature drivers, and when to “Hang up the Keys”.

Council on Aging - As a part of the Injury Prevention program, the Health Unit remains an active member of the Council On Aging.  This council is working on the need to address a lack of knowledge in the public and senior population about fall prevention.  As a result of this council’s planning, a series of brochures will be developed in 2007, the first one “What to do if you fall” will be targeted to local hospital emergency rooms and physicians offices. 

Health Action

2006 Legacy Project - The Health Action Windsor-Essex Workplace Committee has partnered with the Town of LaSalle’s Culture and Recreation Department on a 2006 Legacy Project to encourage the town’s residents to lead healthy, active lifestyles.  We are providing the Town of LaSalle with six 4-ring bicycle racks. Three of these racks will be installed at the new Vollmer Recreation Complex.  The other three will be installed at three points along the LaSalle Trail.  To provide Health Action Windsor-Essex with recognition, 8 inch by 6 inch cast bronze donor plaques will be installed adjacent to the bicycle racks.  The caption on these plaques reads:

DONATED BY

HEALTH ACTION

WINDSOR-ESSEX

SUPPORTING HEALTHY LIVING

IN YOUR COMMUNITY

The Town of LaSalle will pay for all costs associated with the installation of the cement pads, plaques, and bicycle racks.  A similar project was undertaken in 2005 with the City of Windsor.  This new project expands our reach into the County.

HEALTH INSPECTION
(Manager, Rob Lyons)

The Health Inspection department continues to inspect all premises required in the Mandatory Programs and Services Guidelines.  To date we have completed over 4,300 food inspections, 300 HACCP Audits, 650 animal bite inspections, along with pool, spa, infection control inspections, personal service settings, beach sampling, health hazard investigations and heating complaints.

With the continued rollout of the Hedgehog computer program and the additional requirements placed on the department by the changes to the Public Spas regulation and Rabies Control, it has been a very busy year.  It is expected that as the bugs are worked out of Hedgehog in our Food Safety program and the addition of the Infection Control, Pools and Spas and Rabies components in 2007, greater efficiencies will be realized.

Mr. Alex Kusiewicz, a student PHI in our office and more recently working as a graduate inspector for several months, has now been certified.  He is a very welcome addition to our inspection staff.

CLINIC SERVICES
(Manager, Theresa Marentette)

Sexual Health Clinic – The Sexual Health Clinic saw 453 clients for the month of November.  Physician clinics on Tuesdays and Thursdays continue to be very busy with an average of 30 clients attending each day.  The majority of these clients are being assessed for contraception.  The Community nurses followed up on 32 new cases of chlamydia reported for the month of November.

Travel Clinic – The Travel nurse completed 52 first assessments for clients in the month of November. This has proven to be the second busiest month for the Travel Clinic this year following March.  A total of 19 yellow fever vaccinations were administered in the past month, as well as 33 flu vaccinations.

Dental Program – Dental teams have completed the dental screening in 32 schools so far this school year.  In addition to the screening at school, 580 children were screened in the Health Unit dental clinics.  Preliminary stats show that over 150 new children have been placed on the CINOT program this school year.

INFECTIOUS DISEASE CONTROL
(Manager, Line Lauzon)

Tuberculosis – The Tuberculosis team has been following up on a number of contacts of active cases.  Seven migrant farmers who came to Canada were exposed to an active case on the flight here.  Two Leamington residents were also exposed to an active case of extreme drug resistant TB on a flight to Europe. The team continues to assess 30 to 40 School Screening clients each week. 

Vaccine Preventable – We have received a total of 183,000 doses of influenza vaccine, and dispensed 163,350 doses to health care agencies.  The Flu team has administered over 7,626 doses of vaccine, and six more clinics are scheduled before the end of the year.

Infectious Disease – A 27-year old female was diagnosed with shigellosis.  The team investigated the household contacts and five more cases were identified.  One case is a restaurant owner who was not compliant with the Health Unit’s recommendation; therefore a Section 22 was issued.

A 47-year old male was diagnosed with invasive streptococcal infection, group A.  He is in I.C.U. and not doing very well.  The team contacted all close contacts and encouraged them to receive preventative medication.

Respectfully submitted by

Deb Bennett, Director