TPH eBulletin

Twenty-eight videos were submitted in the Toronto Public Health - How Healthy Can You Get? - video contest. The recent contest challenged Toronto youth ages 13-19 to create a one-minute video showing all the healthy things they could do in just 60 seconds. The three contest winners each received an iPad. The video contest is one part of the Be Your Best Self health promotion campaign for Toronto youth. This project aims to connect young people from across Toronto to take action on health issues. Check out the winning videos here.

The winners of the 2010 Public Health Champion Awards were recently announced at the Board of Health. The awards recognize one individual and one organization for making an outstanding contribution to protecting and promoting the health of Toronto residents. The recipient in the individual category is Sudharshana Coomarasamy, a community development worker at the St. Joseph Women's Health Centre and an active community volunteer. The recipient in the agency category is The Stop Community Food Centre. Staff of The Stop are: (left to right) Jonah Schein, Reene Adams, Kathryn Scharf and Mary Milne. The awards were established in 2008 to commemorate the 125th anniversary of public health in Toronto.

Toronto's new City Council recently voted on and approved members of standing committees, agencies, boards and commissions. Four councillors are returning to the Board of Health in 2011. The Board members selected Councillor John Fillion (in photo) as their Chair and Councillor Joe Mihevc as their Vice-Chair at their first meeting in January 2011. The other Council members are Raymond Cho, Sarah Doucette (new), Paula Fletcher and Gord Perks.

The Public Appointments Policy used to select citizen members is currently under review by City Council. The six citizen members and the School Board Trustee currently on the Board will remain in place until Council debates changes to the appointments policy.

Toronto Public Health assists and supports workplaces in becoming healthier and more productive. The TPH Workplace Health team is comprised of professional staff committed to a comprehensive approach to health. Workplace services support and assist those who influence employee health and wellness in Toronto workplaces. The Workplace Health team can help with: workplace health programs; as well as resources, workshops, displays, referrals and workplace health information. For more information call 416-338-7600.

Toronto's Idling Control By-law has changed and the air you breathe will be cleaner because of it. The City of Toronto has lowered the legal idling time for vehicles from three minutes to one minute in a 60-minute period. Past exemptions for transit vehicles and idling in very hot or cold conditions have also been elimintated under the revised by-law. The fine for idling over a minute is $125. Contact the City's Permit Parking Office at 416-392-7873 or email at pparking@toronto.ca if you have questions about the by-law.

TPH has an official Facebook site and a Twitter site to promote our programs and services and engage with Toronto residents. We are using Facebook and Twitter to expand our outreach and connect with the growing number of people who get health information online. Posts to Facebook and Twitter encourage traffic to the TPH website, which gets over 200,000 visits per month. The City of Toronto also has a YouTube channel that TPH uses for posting videos. TPH invites you to 'Follow us' on Twitter and 'Like us' on Facebook.

TPH worked in partnership with two shopping malls popular with the Somali community - Suuqa Ceelgaab and Suuqa Bakaraha - to increase knowledge about breast cancer and screening. The Somali Community Breast Health Project was launched in October, during Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Approximately 80 women attended the two launches, which included a presentation and a poem about breast screening sung by Nakruma, a popular Somali singer whose poster was displayed in stores. Somali TV (OMNI) and radio (Ogaal) were present and broadcast the program. Vendors, trained to deliver key breast health messages, stated that this project encouraged open discussion about breast cancer and screening.

Thirty youth-serving agencies from across Toronto recently assembled to learn more about the new Girls Unlimited Leadership curriculum at a launch event hosted by Toronto Public Health and Parks, Forestry and Recreation. The curriculum was developed to fill the gap in leadership development resources with consistent and girl-focused material. Girls Unlimited is a TPH initiative that started 10 years ago with the goal of increasing the number of girls and young women who are physically active and healthy.

TPH sets up a display at two major family physician conferences every year to expand communication and outreach to Toronto physicians. At the recent Ontario College of Family Physicians' (OCFP) Annual Scientific Assembly conference, our TPH display received the award for Most Educational Exhibit. Staff from across TPH volunteered to work at the booths, and provide physicians with TPH resources including fact sheets, pamphlets, treatment guidelines and reporting forms.