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COLLEGE NEWS
HPPA AMENDMENTS – HOW THEY IMPACT VETERINARIANS
The Health Protection and Promotion Act( HPPA) specifies the organization and delivery of public health programs and services that are administered by the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, including disease prevention and control.
The HPPA requires Ontario’ s 36 boards of health( also called public health units) to oversee, provide or ensure the provision of public health programs and services. Certain provisions in the Act and its regulations are relevant to veterinary practice where veterinary practice intersects with public health concerns.
Amendments to Regulation 557, made under the HPPA, came into effect on January 1, 2018. Here is what a veterinarian needs to know about how these amendments will impact his or her practice:
Amendments include:
• Allowing public health inspectors, who are individuals that work for a public health unit and report to a medical officer of health, to detain for examination, confine, isolate, and / or order the euthanasia of an animal which may be rabid( previously, only a medical officer of health had this authority)
• Adding new requirements for veterinarians and directors of laboratories to report on suspected and confirmed animal cases of certain specified diseases of public health significance( namely, avian influenza virus, a novel influenza virus, or Echinococcus multilocularis)
The College’ s Legislative Overview: Mandatory Reporting and the Legislative Overview: Rabies have been updated to reflect these new provisions.
WORK CONTINUES ON MODERNIZING THE VETERINARIANS ACT
The College Council has presented the provincial government with 19 proposed recommendations for modernizing the Veterinarians Act. The College Council began this important work five years ago and will continue for some time yet. At 25 years of age, the current act does not reflect changes in the veterinary profession nor shifts in public expectation. One of the key recommendations put forward is the establishment of a new Act with veterinarians and veterinary technicians recognized under one piece of legislation. Modernization of the Veterinarians Act is essential to provide the profession as a whole with the best tools to protect animals and the public.
Council is continuing to explore further proposed exemptions, or not, to the proposed authorized activities. Discussions continue with pharmacists, chiropractors, physiotherapists and farriers. As well, the composition of Council, given the proposed inclusion of veterinary technicians under the legislation, is under discussion. Further, the need for a permissive clause on the grandparenting of currently practising veterinary technicians and the relevant qualifications requires debate. Any additional proposed recommendations will of course receive broad public consultation.
Consultation
VETERINARY OBLIGATIONS RELATED TO DRUGS
At its March 2018 meeting, Council was pleased to approve a series of draft Professional Practice Standards inclusive of prescribing, dispensing, extra-label drug use and compounding, which set out current and existing practice expectations for veterinarians across all species.
With the privilege that veterinarians have to both prescribe and dispense drugs comes a great responsibility to do so in accordance with the standards of practice of the profession. The importance of the role of veterinarians to both society and animals in the prescribing and dispensing of pharmaceuticals cannot by overemphasized. As these are distinct skill sets, which can also be performed separately, distinct standards have been prepared to highlight the different accountabilities and responsibilities.
These draft documents align with Health Canada’ s direction that all antimicrobials approved for veterinary use be sold by prescription only.
This set of draft standards is currently open for consultation until May 28, 2018. To review the drafts and to provide feedback, please visit:
www. cvo. org / public-consultations
Spring 2018 / 7