Public Health

What is public health? The prevention of disease and promotion of health through organized efforts and education of society and individuals. Public health deals with threats to the health of populations (vs. an individual), which can be as small as a group of people (10 people in a small town with an unusual disease) to continents (e.g. a pandemic such as SARS-severe acute respiratory syndrome caused by a type of coronavirus).

More on public health…… Public health is about disease prevention rather than treatment by surveying emerging cases and promoting healthy behaviours. Examples of public health interventions included hand washing awareness campaigns (e.g. all City of Ottawa public washrooms have signs), vaccination programs, anti-smoking initiatives and the free distribution of condoms to prevent the spread of STIs.

Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) PHAC is the government body responsible for monitoring and protecting the health of Canadians. The Agency’s mains goal is to strengthen Canada’s capacity to protect and improve the health of Canadians.

PHAC activities Health promotion examples: guidelines for bicycle helmets, bans on smoking in public buildings, physical activity guidelines Prevention of chronic and infectious diseases examples: cancer screening guidelines, promoting lung and cardiovascular health, management of asthma and diabetes

PHAC activities continued…. Responding to public health emergencies continuous surveillance guidelines for quarantines during outbreak (Canadian Quarantine Act and Regulations) – e.g. forcible TB confinement Restricting travel on commercial transport to infected people

What do you think? How far should the government go in limiting an individual’s freedom ‘for the greater good’? When is it okay to lock patients up?

Blood safety and public health In 1984 when AIDS was discovered, the Canadian Red Cross (the agency that was responsible for collecting and distributing blood) did not have blood screening and testing of collected blood; it also imported blood from countries with higher incidence of AIDS (e.g. US).

More than 1000 Canadians were infected with HIV through the blood supply. 20,000 Canadians were infected with Hepatitis C (chronic and sometimes fatal liver disease) – and 95 percent of all hemophiliacs About 3000 of those infected have died; the organization was fined $5000 A public health tragedy that could have been completely avoided…….

Canadian Blood Service Took over from Canadian Red Cross; restructured – now Canadian blood products are among the safest in the world More recent threats to blood supply – Trypanosoma cruzi (Chagas disease) and the prion that causes Creutzfeld-Jakob Disease Screening by questionnaire, all blood tested for HIV and hepatitis, syphilis, West Nile

Diabetes and obesity Obesity rates have quadrupled since 1985 from about 5 percent to over 20 percent of the population Type II diabetes is on the rise

Obesity Obesity is a chronic imbalance between the energy consumed in food and what is used by the body – the excess is stored as fat Obesity is defined as a BMI over 30 (not entirely accurate because athletes have high BMIs – muscle weighs more than fat)

Obesity and health Impact on quality of life Psychological consequences Comparable to cancer in terms of health care costs Type II diabetes

Type II Diabetes Also known as late onset diabetes or insulin- resistant diabetes The body can not properly use insulin, which allows blood glucose to be taken up by body cells –result is high blood glucose Can cause blindness, heart disease and strokes

Recent immigrants, especially women and immigrants of South Asian and African origin are at higher risk (genetic and environmental factors) About 60,000 new cases every year

Type II Diabetes What are some public health measures that could address the needs of high-risk groups?