alPHa Passes New Slate of Resolutions

TORONTO, ON--(Marketwired - June 23, 2015) - At its Annual General Meeting in Ottawa on June 8, the members of the Association of Local Public Health Agencies passed resolutions calling for:

• development and implementation of a provincial Naloxone Strategy that would expand access to Naloxone in support of reducing deaths from opioid overdoses;
  
• development and implementation of a national, universal pharmacare program to enable all Canadians access to quality, safe and cost effective medications, improve health outcomes and generate cost savings;
  
• joint federal-provincial consideration and investigation into a basic income guarantee, as a policy option for reducing poverty and income insecurity, give the well-established, strong relationship between low income and a range of adverse health outcomes; and
  
• increasing the minimum legal age for access to tobacco products in Ontario to 21 as a measure to deter smoking initiation.

alPHa also installed a new President for 2015-16, Lorne Coe, Regional Councillor, Town of Whitby, who is also the Chair of Durham Region's Health & Social Services Committee. Says Coe: "I am very proud of the dedication to the overall health of the population shown by Boards of Health through the resolutions passed at this years' annual general meeting. We look forward to working on these issues with government in order to ensure that investments in keeping people healthy remain a cornerstone of its pledge to change and improve Ontario's health system."

The full slate of resolutions passed on June 8 can be found at http://www.alphaweb.org/?Resolutions_2015

The complete alPHa Board of Directors can be found at http://www.alphaweb.org/?page=BOD_2015

About alPHa

The Association of Local Public Health Agencies (alPHa) is a non-profit organization that provides leadership to Ontario's boards of health and public health units. The Association works with governments and other health organizations, to advocate for a strong and effective public health system in the province, as well as public health policies, programs and services that benefit all Ontarians.