PUBLIC HEALTH SYSTEM CHANGE INTO THE 21ST CENTURY

ABSTRACT

In the past few years, public health incidents have occurred that have caused some alarm in Canada. These include communicable disease outbreaks such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), Influenza and Influenza-Like-Illness (ILI) and water-borne diseases such as Escherichia coli 0157:H7 (Ecoli) and gastroenteritis. There were also environment incidents that occurred such as those caused by Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs), dioxins, furans, and microcystine. On the global scene also, there have been these, and other, public health incidents of varying types and magnitudes, which, equally, may have arisen from gaps in the public health system.