British Columbia Centre for Disease Control

BC Centre for Disease Control
Agency overview
Preceding agencies
  • Special Health and Treatment Services (1955)
  • Vancouver Bureau (1977)
  • British Columbia Centre for Disease Control (1986)
JurisdictionBritish Columbia
Headquarters655 West 12th Avenue Vancouver, BC, Canada
Agency executive
  • Dr. Réka Gustafson, Vice President, Public Health and Wellness and Deputy Provincial Health Officer[1]
Parent agencyProvincial Health Services Authority
WebsiteOfficial website

The BC Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) is the public health arm for British Columbia's Provincial Health Services Authority.[2]

The BCCDC is located at 655 West 12th Avenue, Vancouver, BC. The Centre has tuberculosis[3] and sexually transmitted infections (STI) clinics[4] as well as outreach clinics in high prevalence areas throughout BC.

The BCCDC is the centralized purchaser of all non-travel vaccines for the province, is responsible for provincial environmental health issues and carries out both public health and medical sciences research. It aims to provide provincial and national leadership in public health through "surveillance, detection, treatment, prevention and consultation" services. It also aims to provide analytical and policy support to all levels of government and health authorities. It is linked to the University of British Columbia for research and teaching.[5]

Organizational service lines

  • Clinical Prevention Services (CPS)
  • Communicable Diseases and Immunization Services (CDIS)
  • Environmental Health Services (EHS)

Partnerships

The BCCDC maintains partnerships with organizations throughout Canada, including regional health authorities, the Government of British Columbia, the University of British Columbia, Simon Fraser University, the Public Health Agency of Canada, Health Canada, BC Communicable Disease Policy Advisory Committee, and the BC environmental Health Policy Committee.[5]

Foundation

The BCCDC Foundation for Public Health is the charitable partner of the BCCDC, engaging donors and partners to raise funds for initiatives to address issues such as vaccine uptake, environmental health risks and communicable diseases.[6] The foundation accepts donations from members of the public, government agencies, philanthropic organizations and the health care and pharmaceutical industries.[7] Funds are allocated to broad or specific programs including supporting scientific research at academic institutions like the University of British Columbia, as well as agencies responding to public health emergencies such as COVID-19 and the opioid epidemic.[8][9]

Donors to the foundation include:[10][11][12][13][14][15]

Public health activities

COVID-19

On April 30, 2020, the BCCDC published guidance alongside the BC Ministry of Health on interpreting the results of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests for detection of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.[16]

Notable people

  • Jennifer Gardy, Deputy Director of Surveillance, Data and Epidemiology at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
  • Reka Gustafson, Vice President of Public Health and Wellness at BCCDC, and Deputy Provincial Health Officer under the BC Ministry of Health
  • Agatha Jassem, head of the Virology Lab at British Columbia Centre for Disease Control, Public Health Laboratory
  • Mel Krajden, Medical Director at the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control, Public Health Laboratory

References

  1. ^ "Leadership".
  2. ^ "BC Centre for Disease Control: Protecting Public Health" (PDF). PHSA. June 2013. Retrieved 10 November 2015.
  3. ^ Raff, Daniel (29 Oct 2012). "A Blight on Vancouver: a Tuberculosis FAQ". The Terry Project (UBC). Retrieved 10 November 2015.
  4. ^ Smith, Sam (18 May 2014). "STIs rising across all age groups in Canada and B.C." Metro News. Archived from the original on 20 August 2015. Retrieved 10 November 2015.
  5. ^ a b "What We Do". BC Centre for Disease Control. Archived from the original on 2022-04-19. Retrieved 2022-04-25.
  6. ^ "You can join the BCCDC Foundation in building a future where we value prevention as a solution". BC Centre for Disease Control. Archived from the original on 2022-04-26. Retrieved 2022-04-26.
  7. ^ "Our Public Health Heroes". BCCDC Foundation for Public Health. Archived from the original on 2021-11-16. Retrieved 2022-04-26.
  8. ^ Kovacs, Darian (2020-06-19). "12 B.C. businesses and others doing good during COVID-19: Free fitness credits, an anti-corona collective and much more". BCBusiness. Archived from the original on 2022-04-26. Retrieved 2022-04-26.
  9. ^ "B.C. mom encourages families to 'camp out' at home to support COVID-19 fundraiser". CBC News. 2021-04-30. Retrieved 2022-04-26.
  10. ^ "Public Health Champions". BCCDC Foundation for Public Health. Archived from the original on 2021-07-25. Retrieved 2023-03-16.
  11. ^ Dominato, Cathy (2020). "2019-2020 Annual Report" (PDF). BCCDC Foundation for Public Health. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-11-12. Retrieved 2023-03-16.
  12. ^ "Friends of the Foundation ($100 - $499)" (PDF). BCCDC Foundation for Public Health. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-10-05. Retrieved 2023-03-16.
  13. ^ "Public Health Champions". BCCDC Foundation for Public Health. Archived from the original on 2023-03-16. Retrieved 2023-03-16.
  14. ^ Don, Avison (2016). "Annual Report 2015-2016" (PDF). BCCDC Foundation for Public Health. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-03-26. Retrieved 2023-03-16.
  15. ^ Avison, Don (2015). "Annual Report 2014-2015" (PDF). BCCDC Foundation for Public Health. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2023-03-16. Retrieved 2023-03-16.
  16. ^ "Interpreting the results of Nucleic Acid Amplification testing (NAT; or PCR tests) for COVID-19 in the Respiratory Tract" (PDF). BC Centre for Disease Control. 2020-04-30. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-04-26. Retrieved 2022-04-26.

References