Toronto has no public health oversight over daycare immunizations: medical officer of health
Posted February 11, 2015 2:45 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
High levels of immunization are the best way to control measles, but Toronto has no way of tracking immunization levels at daycares, the city’s Medical Officer of Health admitted on Wednesday.
Dr. David McKeown said due to budgetary constraints, there is currently no public health oversight at daycares and nurseries in the city.
“Local boards of health are supposed to have a program that allows us to track children in day nurseries as to whether they are immunized or not and to work with the nurseries to ensure that all children attending are in fact immunized. That program does not operate here in Toronto. It’s never been included in our budget,” he said.
“It’s one of the few areas in which we are not compliant with the Ontario public health standards.”
There are currently six confirmed measles cases in Toronto, and although McKeown says none were linked to daycares, he recognizes the potential for further outbreak.
“None of the cases that have occurred so far in Toronto with measles has been in a day nursery,” he said. “However, that is a population that we are concerned about. They should be as fully immunized as possible.”
“The measles outbreak that we are having in our city has raised the importance of this program I believe.”
McKeown says it would take about $40,000 of municipal money to begin implementing the program.
There is currently a budget request before council, but it has yet to be voted on.
“The request this year was put in for a couple of staff in order to enable us to start that program, to start to get it into place,” he said.
McKeown says ideally daycares and nurseries would adhere to the same standards as schools, where immunization records are required to attend, barring medical or philosophical exemptions.
“I think a similar approach in day nurseries would allow us to achieve the same kinds of high levels of immunization that we have in schools,” he said.
“I think it is a concern (that we don’t have a system in place).”
