alPHa Position
Preventable Infectious diseases place a significant burden on the health
care system,and there are many interventions available to reduce their
incidence, including public education, immunizations, and prevention,
detection and control measures. Strong public policies to support the
prevention and control of infectious diseases are the foundations of
public health and a vital cornerstone of a strong health care system.
Developments on A22-3:
October 14, 2022
Second letter from alPHa, reintroducing this resolution in the wake of a legionella outbreak that is being investigated in the town of Orillia.
August 24, 2022
Response received from the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing to alPHa's letter requesting action on this resolution.
July 18, 2022
alPHa has sent a letter to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing that introduces Resolution A22-3.
July 18, 2022
Letter sent to the Minister of Health from the alPHa President that introduces this and the four other resolutions that were passed by our members at the 2022 Annual General Meeting.
| In-Year COMOH Resolution: HIV Case Management |
THAT the Council of Ontario Medical Officers of Health endorse the message that an undetectable HIV viral load poses effectively no risk of HIV transmission within a comprehensive public health approach to sexual health; AND FURTHER that the Council of Medical Officers of Health join the Chief Public Health Officer of Canada and the Provincial and Territorial Chief Medical Officers of Health in acknowledging the importance of communicating the U=U message as part of a comprehensive public health approach to sexual health;
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Developments:
February 21, 2019
COMOH passed this resolution during its Section Meeting in Toronto.
March 5, 2019
All Ontario Boards of Health, the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care, The Chief Public Health Officer of Canada and the Chief Medical Officer of Health (Ontario) have been provided with notice of the passage of this resolution.
| RESOLUTION A18-5 - A Comprehensive Approach to Infection Prevention and Control (IPAC) in Regulated Health Professional Settings |
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THAT the Association of Local Public Health Agencies recommend to the Ontario Minister of Health and Long‐Term Care and the Ontario Minister of Advanced Education and Skills Development that a legislative and policy framework be developed to achieve the following:
1) That regulated health professional training programs offered by Ontario colleges and universities contain comprehensive IPAC content within their curriculum; and
2) That the Ontario regulatory colleges of health professions implement continuous quality improvement through mandatory education and a move toward the routine inspection of their members’ practice settings for adherence to IPAC best practices, and that they also provide a
robust response in collaboration with local Boards of Health to IPAC complaints; and
3) That provincially recognized core competencies and qualification requirements be identified for
local public health practitioners regarding the prevention, investigation and mitigation of IPAC lapses; and
4) That base funding be sufficiently enhanced for the role of Boards of Health to respond to the
increasing demands of IPAC complaints and lapses; and
5) That the Province of Ontario provides funds to support any extraordinary costs to Boards of
Health in responding to such increased demands.
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Developments on A18-5:
August 7, 2018
alPHa has sent a letter to the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care notifying her of the passage of this and four other 2018 alPHa resolutions.
| Resolution: #A01-13, Tuberculosis Control Among New Immigrants to Canada |
alPHa urges the Government of Canada to develop and implement, as soon as possible, an effective and
efficient process that ensures that all "Medical Surveillance
Undertakings” are brought to the attention of local medical officers of
health in a timely and complete manner for expeditious action; To ensure
that individuals placed on medical surveillance by Citizenship and
Immigration Canada are given sufficient information at the time of
signature about whom and how to contact the appropriate
provincial/territorial health clinic and that the information be
culturally sensitive; To ensure that individuals on medical surveillance
are followed by CIC to verify that they have reported to appropriate
provincial/territorial health clinics within 30 days as per the Medical
Surveillance Undertaking form; and to ensure that sufficient health care
resources are made available to allow all those on medical surveillance
to be fully assessed by an experienced health care provider in
tuberculosis management and, if necessary, treated in a timely manner
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Developments on #A01-13:
July 10, 2002
Received a letter
from Federal Citizenship and Immigration Minister Denis Coderre
summarizing present policies and indicating that a Medical Surveillance
Unit was established by the Ministry in February of 2001. It was also
indicated that Ontario now has a single-source TB contact to deal with
TB surveillance issues.
| CLOSED Resolution A16 - 4 -Enactment of Legislation to Enforce Infection Prevention and Control Practices Within Invasive Personal Service Settings (PSS) under the Health Protection and Promotion Act |
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Association of Local Public Health Agencies strongly recommends and urgently requests the Government of Ontario to enact legislation implementing infection prevention and control requirements for invasive personal service settings under the Health Protection and Promotion Act with a suitable enforcement program such as short-form wording under the Provincial Offences Act to allow for the enforcement of non-compliance with the legislation under the Health Protection and Promotion Act; AND FURTHER that an appropriate inspection frequency of invasive personal services settings be determined and included in the Infection Prevention and Control in Personal Services Settings Protocol, 2015 (or as current) under the Ontario Public Health Standards; AND FURTHER that the province be asked to provide the necessary funding to accomplish these goals;
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Developments on A16-4:
June 10, 2018
The alPHa Board has closed this resolution, being of the opinion that the operative clauses have been satisfied. Ontario Regulation 136/18, Personal Service Settings came into force on July 1, 2018
May 1 2018
Regulation-making authority has been added to the HPPA to regulate personal services settings (e.g. barbering, hairdressing, body piercing and nail services). A prohibition on eye tattooing has also been passed.
January 24 2018
alPHa has submitted the July 21 letter and resolution through the regulatory registry as part of the consultation on the proposed amendments outlined below.
December 12 2017
The Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care has posted a a summary of proposed amendments to regulations under the HPPA related to the HPPA amendments that were introduced as part of Schedule 3 of Bill 160, Strengthening Quality and Accountability for Patients Act. It includes details of a proposal to develop a new regulation related to personal services settings (e.g. tattoo parlors, nail salons, barber shops, etc.).
July 21 2016
alPHa has transmitted a letter to the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care introducing this resolution.