A Message from the Medical Officer of Health for Leeds, Grenville and Lanark

It is with great pleasure that I introduce myself as the Medical Officer of Health for Leeds, Grenville and Lanark counties. The essence of public health is prevention so it tends to be invisible to the public when done well. Crises of recent years have raised the profile of the role of public health and its importance and caused the public to focus on the need for protection from communicable diseases when the major burden of illness in our society is from chronic diseases such as heart disease and cancer as well as injury.

We must protect the community from communicable diseases and also work to prevent the chronic diseases. In order to carry out our duties, we have a strategic plan to cover the years 2006-2010 entitled Moving Upstream. The title refers to the need to move upstream from the actual disease state to prevent disease or, even further upstream, to prevent the factors that lead to disease. These factors are often called the determinants of health and include lifestyle choices, the physical and socioeconomic environment and health care services. The Health Unit has programs dealing with all of these issues.

Ultimately, public health is a team effort that succeeds only with cooperation in the community. The Health Unit staff and the Board of Health may be the prime movers in the public health sector but we could never succeed without our partner agencies and the broader community that we serve.

I have started going out to meet with those working in our partner agencies to cement relationships and explore new partnerships. I look forward to working with our partners to protect and promote the health of our community.

Anne O. Carter, MD, MHSc, FRCPC

The essence of public health is prevention so it tends to be invisible to the public when done well.