This summer, record numbers of forest fires in Western Canada made air pollution impossible to ignore. Eerie photos of the smoky skies of Vancouver made the news – then disappeared after the air cleared. But the threat remains. Air pollution contributes to asthma, COPD and cardiovascular disease. And high background levels are often more harmful than …
In 2009, Donna Schmidt died of lung cancer. By the time she noticed symptoms and was diagnosed, the cancer had spread from her lung to her spine, liver, breast, bone and brain. She wrote a blog chronicling her last few months in treatment, signing her last post off with, “Thanks to all for everything you have …
Water fluoridation has been hailed as one of the top ten great public health achievements of the 20th century by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. Yet, in the past five years, dozens of Canadian communities have stopped adding fluoride to the municipal water supply, including Calgary, Waterloo, Windsor and Saint John. Inspired by online …
Doctors are expected to report people who have a medical condition that prevents them from being able to drive safely. But the line between fit and unfit to drive is difficult to define, especially for seniors with multiple cognitive, sensory and/or physical issues. And as baby boomers age, doctors will increasingly have to weigh the …
Among Ontario adults, 14.1 percent used cannabis during 2013, according to a recent report from Toronto’s Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH). In 1997, the equivalent figure was only 9.1 percent. Researchers at CAMH say that the steady increase in cannabis use underscores the need for a public health—rather than a criminal justice—approach to …
When I found out Toronto experiences four times the amount of suicides compared to homicides, I was shocked. I suspect this is in part because homicides are reported in the news more than suicides. For years, journalists have been told they need to be careful in how they tell their stories about suicide, a major …
“96 vehicles involved in collision after ‘wall of snow’ hits Highway 400” “Highway 17 Crash Leaves Five Men Dead” “Huge multi-vehicle pile-up injures 100 people near Edmonton.” Every winter, we’re snowed under by headlines like these, on stories of car crashes that seem as inevitable as the season. But it’s not just Old Man Winter …
Several recent commentaries have suggested that public health practitioners should ‘keep out of politics’. Commentators have suggested that public health should focus on its traditional roots of controlling the spread of infectious diseases, such as Ebola, rather than on social issues, such as poverty reduction. The work of public health should be evidence-informed and focus …
The federal government recently announced the Chief Public Health Officer – the physician at the head of the Public Health Agency of Canada – should no longer set the agency’s own budget, leaving this task to a soon-to-be appointed administrator. While the risks and benefits of this approach continue to be debated, a widely cited …
I’m sure Nero did not actually fiddle while Rome burned, but it makes a nice metaphor for the less-desirable qualities and actions of leaders and communicators during emergencies and crises. In the global/international response to the Ebola virus as it smoldered and then raged in West Africa beginning in the spring of 2014, and the …
Ontario registered nurses have a limited right to refuse unsafe work under the province’s Occupational Health and Safety Act. Still, the question remains: will nurses refuse to care for Ebola patients should we ever be faced with that scenario? As President of the Ontario Nurses’ Association (ONA), the largest nurses’ union in Canada, I can …
Every decade or so, a new or exotic infectious disease boards a flight and lands at a Western hospital, and suddenly ethical questions of risks to health care workers and “duty to treat” are front and centre. In the 1980’s and 90’s it was HIV/AIDS. In 2003 it was SARS. Today it’s Ebola. There is no question the …
When federal Health Minister Rona Ambrose announced proposed changes to nutrition labels this summer, dietitians and the public were excited. With the current labels, shoppers looking for healthier products needed to be either a biology expert or a math whiz to succeed. But will the new ones solve the problem? Here are five of the proposed …
Through our work looking at the negative public health impacts of coal on Albertans’ health, we often run into skeptics. “Show me the grave of someone who died from coal!” they demand. This is difficult, given the nature of coal’s effect on our health: the science of public health looks at things at a population, …
When Linda Kerr’s son’s growth flatlined, a doctor suggested the teen might benefit from a gluten-free diet. In support, she tried the diet with him. Her son eventually decided he wasn’t going to follow it, but it did have an unexpected effect: after about a month, Kerr herself found her health improved. “I’d been struggling all …
Probiotic ice cream. Antioxidant 7Up. Cupcakes that are “a good source of iron.” Grocery store shelves are lined with products that claim they’re good for you. Some food labels say they’ll help you dodge health conditions – like oatmeal boxes that say “oat fibre helps reduce cholesterol.” Others let shoppers infer the benefits of vitamins or minerals, …
A poll of Canadians from earlier this year found that the environment ranks as the third most important issue to us, behind the economy and health care. In fact, Canadians are quite divided in their opinions about the environment and what we ought to be doing to protect natural resources and regulate environmental pollutants. Some of …
In January, Ontario’s Liberal government approved legislation that would increase the minimum wage by 75 cents to $11/hour. And in March, Saskatchewan followed by increasing theirs by 20 cents to $10.20/hour. While this has ramifications for labor and the economy, it also impacts the patients in our healthcare system. This minimum wage rise came right …