Big Data for Infectious Diseases Surveillance and the Potential Contribution to the Investigation of Foodborne Disease in Canada

Recognizing the potential of big data as “an untapped resource of evidence that may be used to inform policy and decision making”, NCCID commissioned a background paper to initiate discussion among Canadian public health professionals. The primary objective was to examine the potential for big data to inform public health policy for infectious disease management in Canada.

Geographic Information Systems and Public Health: Benefits and Challenges

Key Points: The application of geographic information systems (GIS) to public health practice has great potential for improving our understanding of the ecology and causes of complex health issues, and for guiding the design and evaluation of effective population based programs and strategies. GIS can summarize vast amounts of tabular data into compelling visual maps…

Syphilis and HIV Point‐Of‐Care Testing Pilot Project: Alberta Health Services’ Edmonton STI Clinic Public Health Outreach Team

This publication summarizes the experiences of a Public Health Outreach Team (PHOT) in delivering HIV and syphilis POCT from February 2011 until December 2012, in Alberta. It provides an overview of the training required to accommodate and initiate this POCT project, quality assurance details, challenges experienced throughout the study, and the implications for the future of offering HIV POCT in practice, outside of a research project setting.

The Settings Approach in Public Health: Thinking about Schools in Infectious Disease Prevention and Control

The purpose of this Purple Paper is to consider the settings approach to health promotion in schools, specifically with respect to infectious disease, and to stimulate considerations for the development of a framework to further advance partnerships and collaboration between public health and the education sector in Canada.