Public Health and the Clean Air Agenda

The Public Health Agency of Canada is actively engaged in addressing climate change by pursuing scientific research, risk assessment, monitoring and reporting of climate change factors that impact human health, considering the human-, animal-, and ecosystem interface (i.e. One Health). This information supports the Agency and other Government of Canada bodies to apply that knowledge to support the development of tools, guidelines and programs to help Canadians adapt to, and protect themselves from, changing climatic conditions. The Agency also communicates health risks to Canadians through focused reports and collaborates with other international and federal government bodies to support international efforts for reducing health risks.

Linkage to the FSDS and Clean Air Agenda (CAA) Program

Enlarge Linkage to the FSDS and Clean Air Agenda (CAA) Program

Linkages to the Program Alignment Architecture (PAA), Sub Sub-Activity 1.2.1.3: Food-borne, Environmental and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases

This program seeks to prevent and control infections in Canadians by analyzing risk factors and investigating, coordinating and responding to outbreaks associated with food-borne, environmental and zoonotic illness. The program is responsible for the development and sharing of science based decision making tools and information including national guidelines used by Canadian and international public health professionals to inform decision-making in the management of infectious diseases and risk factors in Canada, including emerging and re-emerging risks resulting from changes to behaviour, environment and other factors.

Figures exclude Public Works and Government Services Canada accommodation costs.

Program Descriptions

To support the Clear Air Agenda (CAA) program, the Agency is taking action to help Canadians become more resilient in the face of a changing climate through the 2007 – 2011: Pilot Infectious Disease Impact and Response Systems (PIDIRS) program. From 2007 to 2011, through academic research and support of regional adaptation pilot projects, the Agency has advanced the understanding of the health implications of climate change on water- and vector-borne infectious disease, specifically West Nile virus and Lyme disease.

To continue support under the CAA program, the Public Health Agency of Canada aims to expand research and further engage provincial/territorial/local (P/T/L) public health stakeholders to address climate change impacts by informing decision-making and assisting in the development of practical adaptation strategies to protect the health of Canadians. This will be achieved through the 2011 - 2016 Preventative Public Health Systems and Adaptation to Climate Change (PPHSACC) program, involving targeted research and development of enhanced surveillance methods, with particular attention to the importance of water quality, risk to vulnerable populations (e.g. elderly, children, northern populations), and public health outcomes. P/T/L public health will also be engaged to test and integrate practical adaptations (e.g. new/enhanced surveillance, risk assessment methods) to better detect, assess, and respond to emerging vector-, water-, and food-borne disease threats. Where possible and practical, a “One Health” approach that integrates the science of human-, animal- and ecosystem health will be taken.

2011-12 Performance Summary and Analysis of Program Activity

For more information on the 2007 – 2011 PIDIRS and 2011 - 2016 PPHSACC programs, please visit Planning for a Sustainable Future: The Public Health Agency of Canada's Departmental Sustainable Development Strategy 2011-2014’s 2011-12 Annual Progress Report.

The expected results of this program acknowledge the growing demand among Canadians for current knowledge and resources to better understand climate change impacts. Working with key stakeholders (e.g. public health, emergency management officials) to identify what is needed to inform and influence decision-making is essential to this process. The Public Health Agency of Canada (Agency) has a national leadership role to strengthen Canada’s public health capacity to anticipate and respond to the health risks associated with a changing climate. The 2012-13 Performance Summary demonstrates how the Agency has engaged stakeholders in multiple ways (e.g. dialogues, presentations, publications) to ensure they are knowledgeable of current research and decision-support tools available to minimize impacts and adapt to environmental changes.

Presentations: To enhance adaptive capacity the Agency presented formally to a variety of stakeholder groups and organizations on the impacts of environmental change on health. This included conferences, workshops, and stakeholder group meetings. Presentations of note include:

• Emerging Vector-borne disease threats. Canadian Animal Health Laboratory Network, annual meeting
• Climate change impacts on vector-borne diseases in Canada. Canadian Association on Gerontology annual meeting
• Modelling Vector-borne Disease spread with Climate Change. Canadian Food Inspection Agency workshop
• Seniors and Environmental Health: Peer-to-Peer Knowledge Transfer presentation at the Canadian Public Health Association Conference

Webinars: Web-based virtual meetings allowed for presentations by subject matter experts to a pan-Canadian audience on topics related health and environmental changes. These included:

• “Emergency Preparedness Climate Change and Health”
• “Current Perspectives: Children, the Environment and Public Health Considerations”
• “State of Knowledge of Climate Change”
• “One Health: The Landscape Outside Canada”

Workshop: Modeled after previous events, a capacity building workshop was held in Manitoba on the current knowledge and understanding of projected health impacts of climate change. Through subject matter expert presentations and participant dialogue, a better understanding of the public health professional role in adaptation was established.

Scientific publications: On-going, targeted research based on identified needs to address knowledge gaps is a key role for the Agency. Recent research has focused on the impact of climate change on the distribution and occurrence of infectious disease as well as the environmental impacts on respiratory health. Publications include:

• Scientific manuscript: Lavigne, E., Gasparrini, A., Wang, X., Chen, H., Yagouti, A., Fleury DM., Cakmak, S. Extreme ambient temperatures and cardiorespiratory emergency department visits: a time series study in Toronto, Canada. Environmental Health. Status as of March 2013: Under review.
• Scientific manuscript: Wang, X., Lavigne, E., Ouellette-kuntz, H., Chen, BE. Acute impacts of extreme temperature exposure on emergency room admissions related to mental and behavior disorders in the City of Toronto, Canada. Journal of Affective Disorders. Status as of March 2013. In press.
• Rocheleau JP, Arsenault J, Lindsay LR, DiBernardo A, Kulkarni MA, Côté N, Michel P. Eastern equine encephalitis: high seroprevalence in horses of southern Quebec, Canada, 2012. In press. Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases.
• Wu X, Duvvuri VR, Lou Y, Ogden NH, Pelcat Y, Wu J. 2013 Developing a temperature-driven map of the basic reproductive number of the emerging tick vector of Lyme disease Ixodes scapularis in Canada. J Theor Biol. 319:50-61.

Web-based resources: Building on the engagement activities noted above, the Agency has produced a number of information products on the health risks associated with environmental change. Access to various fact sheets, regional dialogue reports, and publications are now available through a dedicated web-page to assist public health officials and the general public develop adaptation strategies.

2013-14 Performance Summary and Analysis of Program Activity

The expected results of this program acknowledge the growing demand among Canadians for current knowledge and resources to better understand climate change impacts. Working with key stakeholders (e.g. public health, emergency management officials) to identify what is needed to inform and influence decision-making is essential to this process. The Public Health Agency of Canada (Agency) has a national leadership role to strengthen Canada’s public health capacity to anticipate and respond to the health risks associated with a changing climate. The 2013-14 Performance Summary demonstrates how the Agency has engaged stakeholders in multiple ways (e.g. dialogues, presentations, publications) to ensure they are knowledgeable of current research and decision-support tools available to minimize impacts and adapt to environmental changes.

Presentations: To enhance adaptive capacity the Agency presented formally to a variety of stakeholder groups and organizations on the impacts of environmental change on health. These included conferences, workshops, and stakeholder group meetings. Presentations of note include:

• Indigenous Health Adaptation to Climate Change Annual Meeting
• Food Safety Scientific Risk Assessment for Human Populations: Expert Meeting on Integrated Risk Assessment Methodologies
• International Conference France-Quebec-Africa: Adaptation to climate change and public health, can we do better?
• Processes in the invasion of the vectors and agent of Lyme disease in Canada. Symposium on vector invasions, Entomology 2013
• Emergence of Lyme in Canada: environmental drivers. Society of Vector Ecology International Meeting

Webinars: Web-based virtual meetings allowed for presentations by subject matter experts to a pan-Canadian audience on topics related to health and environmental changes. These included:

• Risk Modelling Framework for Impacts of Climate Change on Food and Water Safety

Scientific publications: On-going, targeted research based on identified needs to address knowledge gaps is a key role for the Agency. Recent research has focused on the impact of climate change on the distribution and occurrence of infectious disease as well as the environmental impacts on respiratory health. Publications include:

• Lavigne E., Gasparrini A., Wang X., Chen H., Yagouti A., Fleury M.D., Cakmak S. (2014). Extreme ambient temperatures and cardiorespiratory emergency room visits: assessing risk by comorbid health conditions in a time series study. Environmental Health; Feb 3; 13(1):5.
• Ogden N.H., Mechai S., Margos, G. (2013). Changing geographic ranges of ticks and tick-borne pathogens: drivers, mechanisms and consequences for pathogen diversity. Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology; 3:46.
• Ogden N.H., Radojevic M., Wu X., Duvvuri V.R., Leighton P.A., Wu J. (2014) Estimated effects of projected climate change on the basic reproductive number of the tick vector of Lyme disease Ixodes scapularis. Environmental Health Perspectives, published online
• Wang X., Lavigne E., Ouellette-Kuntz H., Chen B.E. (2014). Acute impacts of extreme temperature exposure on emergency room admissions related to mental and behavior disorders in Toronto, Canada. Journal of Affective Disorders; 155:154-61.

2014 -15 Performance Summary and Analysis of Program Activity

See: Public Health Agency of Canada - Departmental Performance Report 2014-15