ADVICE TO MINISTER OF HEALTH
DELAYED FISH CONSUMPTION ADVISORIES FOR ANYTOWN
ISSUE:
• There have been significant delays to issuing important fish-consumption advisories for lakes near Anytown. The Ministry of Health must publicly release these advisories as soon as possible, as well as take steps to mitigate problems with the communities because of the delays.
KEY BACKGROUND FACTS:
• On [date], the Food Consumption Advisory Public Health Management Committee recommended fish consumption advisories for three lakes near Anytown, based on environmental contamination found by the Environmental Monitoring Program and routine monitoring (Attachments 1 and 2). The Office of the Chief Medical Officer (the Office or ‘we’) releases these advisories.
• Anytown has already received other food consumption advisories based on environmental contaminants in local food sources. The community was unhappy with how the Office handled a food advisory in 20XX (BN #123).
• The current approach differs from the regular food consumption advisory process (Attachment 3). The Office has yet to release the recommended advisory because:
- The previous government decided to delay the release. The Office was to work with local authorities on a plan to notify the residents directly. The goal was to mitigate a potential negative response stemming from a long history of environmental and health concerns in communities near Anytown (BN #456).
- The recent change of government has further delayed the release.
ANALYSIS:
• The delay is causing a public health concern and potential political issues, so the advisory must be issued as soon as possible
• The Office recommends the two-step approach below, based on the need to protect the health of the communities and public, be sensitive to context and history in these communities, and mitigate the effect of the long delay (Attachment 4).
• Not following the regular food-advisory process could increase the fear of contaminated local food sources and unintentionally promote less healthy, storebought options. For this reason, it is important to meet with local leaders, so they can communicate accurate information to the communities.
• The Office will use what we learn from this two-step process to update our policies to better meet the needs of and involve local communities when we issue food advisories. This will also align with the cross-governmental policy to design programs that support the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights.
Contact: Joe Smith, Office of the Chief Medical Officer of Health
Phone #: 780-000-0000
AR XXXXX
The two-step plan to issue the advisory The Office proposes to:
1. Post the advisory online This follows our normal practices, fulfills the Office’s obligations to make this information public, and can be done immediately. We would post the information on the Province ‘A’ Environment and Parks (EP) website, on the Office website, and in the Province ‘A’ Fishing Guide.
2. Meet with local leaders This would be done immediately after the web release to:
o directly inform the communities most affected and ensure they receive the advisory, if they did not see the EP website or Fishing Guide
o answer leaders’ questions so they can share the information with the rest of their community
o give people in the community clear information, to prevent them avoiding fish unnecessarily, which could result in increased consumption of less healthy, store-bought food
o resolve problems from the advisory process in 20XX
o collect information to revise the advisory process further
• The communications material for this plan is attached (Attachments 5 and 6)
RECOMMENDATION:
To ensure public safety and mitigate problems from the delay, the Office asks that the Minister approve:
1. a two-step plan for issuing the fish consumption advisories for Lakes A, B and C
2. the attached communications materials (key messages, script, poster, FAQs)
APPROVAL: Date: Honourable NAME, Minister
ATTACHMENTS:
1. Fish Consumption Advisories for the three lakes
2. Human Health Risk Assessment report titled: Contamination in Fish In Province A Water Bodies 20XX-20YY
3. Overview of the current food consumption advisory process Two-step plan for the issuing the fish consumption advisories
4. Communication materials: Script for speaking with communities, FAQ document
5. Memo from the Office DM to the DM of EP
Contact: Joe Smith, Office of the Chief Medical Officer of Health
Phone #: 780-000-0000
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