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General Inquiries by phone:
Influenza is an acute viral disease of the respiratory tract which occurs every year in the population. Outbreaks or epidemics occur every few years and can cause widespread illness in the population resulting in thousands of medical visits, hospitalizations, and deaths across Canada. At regular intervals, but usually two or three times per century, a new influenza virus appears causing a worldwide epidemic or “pandemic”. When this happens, widespread disease, increased hospitalizations and high mortality may occur challenging the health care system and causing widespread social disruption.
The goal of the pandemic planning process is to minimize serious illness and mortality, and to reduce societal disruption in the population during an influenza pandemic. Planning will consider possible risks, hazards and vulnerabilities in order to reduce the negative impacts both on individuals and society as a whole. The planning process will identify the human and physical resources required to respond to a pandemic and to mitigate its effects. The Department of Health and Community Services continues to plan and prepare for pandemic influenza through a collaborative approach with key stakeholders and community partners.
The physical environment in which people live is an important determinant of health. At certain levels of exposure, contaminants in our air, water, food and soil can cause a variety of adverse health effects. Environmental health is a component of the public health system and is committed to protecting the health of the public and enhancing quality of life by assessing, correcting, controlling, and preventing those factors in the environment that can adversely affect human health. The prevention of injury, disease and death that may result from interactions of people with their environment is the goal of the environmental health program.
The field component of the Department's environmental health program is carried out by Environmental Health Officers with the Department of Government Services. If you wish to talk to an Environmental Health Officer please contact the Government Service Centre, Department of Government Services, at the location nearest you.
The quality of drinking water is critical to ensuring optimal health and wellbeing. Programs are in place in the province to provide bacteriological and chemical water quality monitoring for public water supplies and bacteriological testing for private water supplies.
To obtain the most recent water quality results for your community, please call your municipal council office or visit the Department of Environment and Conservation. If you wish to talk to an Environmental Health Officer about private water supply test results, or another matter, please contact the Government Service Centre, Department of Government Services, at the location nearest you.
The food safety program aims to reduce the incidence of foodborne illness in the Province. This is done through the regulation of the food service industry and the provision of food safety information to the public.
If you have a complaint related to a food product, or another food related issue that you would like an Environmental Health Officer to look into, please contact the Government Service Centre, Department of Government Services, at the location nearest you.
This program involves responding to variations in disease patterns, outside that which is normal or expected in the population, with a view to elimination or containment. Some examples include investigation and control of outbreaks of food and water-borne illness, tuberculosis, measles, and unidentified symptoms or disease syndromes in the population.
This program involves the immunization of all persons in the province according to national and provincial standards and recommendations. This includes policy development, maintenance of vaccine supply (including budget and monitoring), maintenance of immunization records, and provision of data related to immunization status. Also included in this program are ad hoc immunization programs directed to specific outbreak control measures.
Individuals who wish to receive a certified copy of their Newfoundland Labrador Immunization Record should contact the Regional Health Authority of current residence:
This program area focuses on excellence in infection prevention and control practices in the province of Newfoundland Labrador. This will be accomplished, in collaboration with the Provincial Infection Control group (PIC-NL), by maximizing coordination and integration of activities related to health care associated infections, infection prevention and control, and surveillance using an evidence-based approach.
This is achieved by:
This program area is accountable for the collection and analysis of epidemiological data from a variety of sources, and the application of findings to advance the promotion and protection of the health of the people of the province. Utilizing the provincial health surveillance mechanisms and resources, this program area provides quality surveillance data to support each of the program areas of the Public Health Branch.