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Public Health Act could be 'best in Canada' Casey Lessard Northern News Services Published Monday, October 31, 2011
The meetings are being held to explain the changes to the Act, which covers health matters that affect the public as a whole, such as disease outbreaks and healthy lifestyle promotion. "The consultations are an opportunity for the communities to give us their input on what they want to see in the Act," said chief medical officer of health Dr. Geraldine Osborne, who is leading the meetings, at the first one in Iqaluit on Oct. 26.Staff at the Department of Health and Social Services started drafting the act in 2009 as a replacement for the one originally adopted from the NWT. "It's a very old act that doesn't at all reflect public health practice at the moment, and only covers a small piece of environmental health and communicable diseases - but even that needs updating," Osborne said. "This is an opportunity to bring the legislation up to the level of practice that we are at for public health and make it relevant for Nunavut to incorporate the (Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit) principles and deal with issues, like traditional foods, that are unique to Nunavut." Legislative lawyer Patrick Orr, who worked on the legislation, says if approved, Nunavut's new act could be the best in Canada. "The former chief medical officer of health, Dr. Isaac Sobol, had a vision of doing it in a very advanced way, where we would learn from every other jurisdiction and have the best Public Health Act possible," Orr said. "If the recommendations we are proposing are accepted, Nunavut would have probably the best public health legislation in Canada. Partly because we're later to the table, but also because it gives a lot of weight to health promotion, not just preventing the outbreak of a disease." Iqaluit resident Kate Darling attended the meeting in the capital Oct. 26 as a citizen, but the act will affect her directly in her role as the regional communicable disease co-ordinator. "It's important to keep these things current because you're always trying to put the health of people first," Darling said. Another resident, Anna Ziegler, wanted to hear what the act would contain regarding traditional foods and language. "I'm particularly interested in food security and access to country foods," Ziegler said. "I'm also interested in health literacy, and wondering if language and literacy would be a component of the new pieces on promotion. The section on promotion is not spelled out that much, but I think they're open to it." Osborne acknowledges that, although two years have passed since bureaucrats started drafting the legislation, more consultation will be required, she said, and the act should become law in about two years. She's looking forward to parts of the act that would give her the power to be more effective in her role. "I'm particularly interested in the issue of health surveillance," Osborne said, "having the authority to gather data and report on the health status of the population. Without the information, you're working in the dark. "For the most part, public health is invisible when it's working really well," she said. "When things go wrong, it makes itself known." A consultation will be held the evening of Nov. 1 with a video conference for other Kivalliq communities the morning of Nov. 2. Cambridge Bay hosts a meeting the evening of Nov. 3, and other Kitikmeot residents can take part in a video conference the afternoon of Nov. 4.
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