COMOH Letter
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2 Carlton Street, Suite 1306 Toronto, Ontario M5B 1J3 Tel: (416) 595-0006 Fax: (416) 595-0030 E-mail: [email protected] Hon. Tracy MacCharles March 8 2016 alPHa’s members are Minister of Children and Youth Services the public health units 56 Wellesley St W. 14th Flr in Ontario. Toronto ON M5S 2S3 Dear Minister MacCharles, alPHa Sections: Re: Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) Provincial Roundtable Report Boards of Health Section On behalf of members of the Council of Ontario Medical Officers of Health (COMOH), I am writing today to express our concerns about the significant preventative strategies Council of Ontario Medical Officers of and interventions that were absent from the Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Provincial Health (COMOH) Roundtable Report, released in September 2015. In particular , the Awareness and Prevention Section of this Report focused almost Affiliate exclusively on raising awareness while all but ignoring the other three levels that Organizations: contribute to an effective evidence-based prevention strategy to reduce the incidence of Association of Ontario FASD. These include: Level 2-Brief Counselling with Girls and Women of Childbearing Public Health Business Age; Level 3-Specialized Prenatal Support; and Level 4 Postpartum Support. Administrators We understand that this report will be used to inform further action by your Ministry on Association of the issue of FASD, and we fear that unless proper consideration is given to all four levels, Public Health Epidemiologists the impact of such action will be weak. in Ontario In addition to this, we would like to draw your attention to the fact that supportive Association of alcohol policy is a critical component of any strategy aimed at changing behavior and Supervisors of Public reducing harms related to alcohol use. Supportive alcohol policy is unfortunately Health Inspectors of overlooked in most FASD mitigation efforts, but we have an ideal opportunity in Ontario Ontario at the moment to ensure its inclusion as part of the Premier’s Provincial Alcohol Strategy Health Promotion Policy Consultations that were announced in December 2015. Ontario COMOH Members are eager to offer their expertise in the areas of incorporating Ontario Association of effective, evidence-based interventions for reducing the impacts of FASD in particular Public Health Dentistry and the impacts of alcohol use and abuse in general. Ontario Association of Public Health Nursing Sincerely, Leaders Ontario Society of Nutrition Professionals in Public Health Dr. Miriam Klassen, COMOH Chair Copy: Hon. Kathleen Wynne, Premier of Ontario; Hon. Eric Hoskins, Minister of Health and Long-Term Care; Hon. Dipika Damerla, Associate Minister of Health and Long-Term Care; Sharon Lee Smith, Associate Deputy Minister, Policy and Transformation; Dr. David Williams, Chief Medical Officer of Health Roselle Martino, Assistant Deputy Minister, Population and Public Health Division. www.alphaweb.org Providing Leadership in Public Health Management .