SARS (Motion #47-03)
Moved by Craig – Kinoshameg. Approved by the Sudbury & District Board of Health, May 15, 2003.
WHEREAS the Province of Ontario has issued a number of full-page advertisements which have been printed in major regional and national newspapers in response to the SARS outbreak; and
WHEREAS the provincial advertisement published in early May 2003 entitled “Ontario A Community of Care” reports that the following actions are in progress:
“To safeguard your hard work and valiant efforts, here is what’s being done to keep everyone safe.
- Establishing 15 mobile rapid-response teams for fast response to contain infectious disease outbreaks in the future.
- Developing and funding a comprehensive research program for SARS and other infectious diseases.
- Expanding the number of staff in public health units.
- Enhancing information systems linking all public health units across the province so they can respond faster to outbreaks.
- New legislation that would give greater power to your Medical Officer of Health to protect your health and safety by ensuring people stay in isolation when necessary.
- Developing new protocols and procedures to keep Ontario hospitals safe.” and
WHEREAS local Medical Officers of Health and local Boards of Health have unique mandates under Ontario law related to the control of infectious disease and outbreak response; and
WHEREAS the Sudbury & District Board of Health has not received official communication of the above policy changes and the related implementation issues that relate directly to the mandate of Ontario Boards of Health and Medical Officers of Health; and
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Board of Health directs the Medical Officer of Health to request clarification from the Honourable Tony Clement, Minister of Health and Long-Term Care regarding the Medical Officer Health and Board of Health roles and responsibilities as they pertain to the recent SARS advertisement that focuses on new infectious disease control and outbreak response policy directions and enhancements;
AND FURTHERMORE THAT this Board of Health seek support of other Ontario Boards of Health in this matter.
This item was last modified on August 15, 2016