The Windsor Essex County Health Unit (WECHU) has a new medical officer of health in Dr. Mehdi Aloosh.
Dr. Aloosh takes the reins from former acting Medical Officer of Health Dr. Shanker Nesathurai, who held the position for more than a year. Dr. Aloosh comes to Windsor and WECHU from Hamilton, where he obtained his training in public health as well as preventative and family medicine at McMaster University. He also has a Master’s degree in epidemiology from McGill University.
Prior to joining WECHU, he was a physician at Public Health Ontario, a practising family doctor and involved in research and teaching at McMaster University.
Dr. Aloosh joined CBC Windsor’s Katerina Georgieva to discuss why he chose Windsor and his priorities for public health in the region.
Thanks for being here, Dr. Aloosh. This is a really great opportunity for people to get to know you a little bit better. So tell us why you wanted to take on this role.
When this opportunity arose in Windsor Essex county, I contacted [former medical officer of health] Dr. Ahmed and Dr. Nesathurai, who I knew in the past and I asked their opinion. They gave me very good information in terms of how the organization is working, the culture in the organization and Windsor-Essex County.
I learned that there are excited workers, very knowledgeable people working in the health unit also I learned about thecollaboration with the university which brings research into public health work. Also knowing about the socioeconomics of the region. There are lots of things happening: the mega hospital, lots of new Canadians will come to the region. So all of those things led to that decision.
We know that COVID-19 has been at the forefront for the last few years. For you now in this role moving forward, what is the biggest health issue for you?
As you mentioned COVID-19 has affected all of the individuals, businesses, all of the people and communities. Going forward making sure that COVID is under control. I think there are other priorities: sexually transmitted diseases are on the rise in Ontario and Windsor-Essex County, we are seeing things that we were not seeing in the past. We see the opioid crisis and also mental health issues, vaccinations. All of those sorts of things are some examples of my priorities going forward.
Dr. Mehdi Aloosh is the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit’s new Medical Officer of Health. (Windsor-Essex County Health Unit)
During your first board of health meeting, you spoke at length about (human papillomavirus) HPV. Can you talk about why that’s so important for you to get that message out there?
HPV can several types of cancer — cervical cancer, oral cancer, penile cancer, lots of different cancers. We have a vaccine for that and we can eliminate those cancers and we can protect our kids and our young adults by vaccination in a school year that’s free and I think that we should invest in that, we should work together to do that vaccination and protect population.
There are other aspects to this conversation, which is doing safe sexual behaviour, doing screening, pap smear, those sort of things. So these are other discussions that we can have beside a vaccination.
What is the uptake on the vaccine for HPV in our region?
It’s around 60 per cent, which is really good for our school age. But the evidence and some of the research shows that if we keep that over 90 per cent besides other activities like screening and treatment we can save 200 lives just for cervical cancer in Ontario and other issues like genital warts.
It’s not just cancer, it’s lots of things around it and we can prevent that.
CALGARY – Alberta’s health minister says a new agency responsible for primary health care should be up and running by next month.
Adriana LaGrange says Primary Care Alberta will work to improve Albertans’ access to primary care providers like family doctors or nurse practitioners, create new models of primary care and increase access to after-hours care through virtual means.
Her announcement comes as the provincial government continues to divide Alberta Health Services into four new agencies.
LaGrange says Alberta Health Services hasn’t been able to focus on primary health care, and has been missing system oversight.
The Alberta government’s dismantling of the health agency is expected to include two more organizations responsible for hospital care and continuing care.
Another new agency, Recovery Alberta, recently took over the mental health and addictions portfolio of Alberta Health Services.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 15, 2024.
New Brunswick‘s Liberal and Green parties are set to make announcements about health care on the campaign trail today as the provincial election race enters its second half.
Liberal leader Susan Holt is scheduled to hold her announcement this morning in Saint John, N.B., followed by lunch at the city’s market.
A spokesperson with the Progressive Conservative party shared few details about the event scheduled for leader Blaine Higgs in Fredericton this morning.
Green Party Leader David Coon will hold a news conference this morning about “local health-care decision-making” alongside deputy leader Megan Mitton in her Sackville, N.B. riding.
On Saturday, Coon said he was proud to put forward a gender-balanced slate among the party’s 46 candidates.
While the Liberals and Progressive Conservatives are running with full slates, the Greens are three candidates short and will not have full representation when the province’s residents go to the polls on Oct. 21.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 7, 2024.
EDMONTON – The Health Quality Council of Alberta is investigating how some medical referrals weren’t properly processed, potentially affecting 14,000 patients over the last five years across the province.
The referrals were made to specialists outside of Alberta Health Services, such as physiotherapists and dietitians.
The health authority’s CEO, Athana Mentzelopoulos, says it does an average 100,000 referrals per year, but in some cases it can’t confirm if patients received referral services.
She says the problem was flagged in late September, and a preliminary estimate suggests 31 patients may have experienced a potential negative outcome due to the delays.
The provincial government requested the investigation, and the quality council is to find out how the snag occurred and how it can be prevented in the future.
The health authority says it has begun notifying patients who may have been affected by the disruption, and the cases could date back to 2019.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 4, 2024.
