Toronto Public Health (TPH) is the

public health unit In Ontario, a Public Health Unit (PHU; ) is a government organization under the supervision of a local board of health. A PHU is under the direction of a Medical Officer of Health (MOH), who is appointed by the supervising board of health. The pr ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

. It is responsible for delivering public health programs and services, enforcing public health regulations and advising

Toronto City Council Toronto City Council is the governing body of the municipal government of Toronto, Ontario. Meeting at Toronto City Hall, it comprises 25 city councillors and the mayor of Toronto. The current term began on November 15, 2022. Structure The c ...

on health issues. The current unit was formed in 1998, when the former

Metropolitan Toronto The Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto was an upper-tier level of municipal government in Ontario, Canada, from 1953 to 1998. It was made up of the old city of Toronto and numerous townships, towns and villages that surrounded Toronto, whic ...

and its constituent municipalities of

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

North York North York is one of the six administrative districts of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located directly north of York, Old Toronto and East York, between Etobicoke to the west and Scarborough to the east. As of the 2016 Census, it had a po ...

, Scarborough,

Etobicoke Etobicoke (, ) is an administrative district of, and one of six municipalities amalgamated into, the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Comprising the city's west-end, Etobicoke was first settled by Europeans in the 1790s, and the municipalit ...

, and

East York East York is a former administrative district and municipality within Toronto, Ontario, Canada. From 1967 to 1998, it was officially the Borough of East York, a semi-autonomous borough within the upper-tier municipality of Metropolitan Toron ...

amalgamated into the current city of Toronto.

Role

In Ontario, under the ''Health Protection and Promotion Act'', a public health unit (PHU) is an official health agency established by a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the ...

. PHUs administer health promotion and disease prevention programs to inform the public about healthy life-styles, communicable disease control, immunization, food premises inspection, healthy growth and development, health education for all age groups, and selected screening services. Health units are governed by a board of health, which is an autonomous corporation under the act and is administered by the Medical Officer of Health, who reports to the board of health.

Programs

Dinesafe

In 2001, under then medical officer of health Dr.

Sheela Basrur Sheela Basrur, (October 17, 1956 – June 2, 2008) was a Canadian physician and Ontario Chief Medical Officer of Health and Assistant Deputy Minister of Public Health. She resigned from these positions late in 2006 to undergo treatment for canc ...

, TPH introduced Dinesafe, the City of Toronto's food safety program which inspects restaurants for compliance with health regulations, and publicly displays results (pass, conditional pass or closed) both on-site and on the City's website.

Infectious disease control

SARS

During the

Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a viral respiratory disease of zoonotic origin caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV or SARS-CoV-1), the first identified strain of the SARS coronavirus species, ''seve ...

crisis in 2003, TPH under then medical officer of health Dr. Sheela Basrur lead the City of Toronto's response to the virus. TPH created a management system, with different operational teams responsible for different parts of the response. TPH teams monitored those infected and under quarantine, were responsible for

epidemiology Epidemiology is the study and analysis of the distribution (who, when, and where), patterns and determinants of health and disease conditions in a defined population. It is a cornerstone of public health, and shapes policy decisions and evi ...

, tracing the movements and contacts of those infected, and tracking the virus itself. Much of the public communications effort was also led by TPH, who organized community meetings, contacted school boards, and kept the population informed. As a result of SARS, TPH "totally reorganized itself", with a stronger liaison unit with acute-care facilities and changes being made to better address public health on a provincial and federal level.

COVID-19

TPH is responsible for coordinating the City of Toronto's response to the international outbreak of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quick ...

. On January 7, 2020, TPH was informed of a "undiagnosed viral pneumonia" in

Wuhan Wuhan (, ; ; ) is the capital of Hubei Province in the People's Republic of China. It is the largest city in Hubei and the most populous city in Central China, with a population of over eleven million, the ninth-most populous Chinese city a ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

, and began to monitor and develop a response plan should it spread to Toronto. TPH released a statement on January 21 that it was "actively monitoring" the virus. On March 19, 2020, TPH ordered restaurants and bars to halt dine-in service amid evidence of community spread.

Board of Health

The Board of Health is a committee of the City of Toronto, governed by the ''Health Protection and Promotion Act'', which directs and oversees the work of Toronto Public Health. It is composed of six city council members, six members of the public, and one education representative. A chair and vice-chair are elected from amongst its members.

Medical Officer of Health

The Medical Officer of Health is responsible for day-to-day operations of Toronto Public Health, and reports to Toronto City Council through the Board of Health.

References

External links

*
An Infectious Idea: 125 Years of Public Health in Toronto
(City of Toronto Archives) {{Authority control Municipal government of Toronto Public health organizations Medical and health organizations based in Ontario Health in Toronto