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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1988-02-24, Page 2Page 2 February 24, 1988 Rubber gloves are routinely worn in dental offices and hospitals during procedures involving bodily fluids. By Yvonne Reynolds AIDS -is a four-letter word that is acquiring as fearsome a reputation as tha( hated - six -letter word "cancer". AIDS has already come to this county. Of the four known cases, three have died. All belonged to one of the high-risk groups. - he- mophiliacs, homosexuals or intra- venous drug users. As far as is known, all contracted the disease outside this area. - Education the only weapon Dr. Maarten Bokhout, . Huron County medical officer, is mar- shalling the many resources availa- ble to attack the problem with the only effective weapon at hand prevention through education. The battle is two-pronged, aimed at in- forming children still in school about this fatal disease, and dis- seminating information that will persuade sexually active adults to reduce the possibility of contract- ing AIDS by changing at -risk life- styles. Bokhout has been meeting on a regular basis for a number of months with Huron .County Health Unit personnel, primarily senior public health inspector Jack McKinnon, public health nurse Marlene Price, family planner Ruth. Linton and health education counsellor Sheryl Feagan, to plan -strategy. One recent topic was how to spend the S8,800 received from the province's AIDS education fund. Part will go for audio-visual equip- ment. Videos and tapes arc being developed in partnership with TV Ontario to assist the teachers who will be delivering the school pro- grams -the ministry of education has stipulated must be introduced to all grade eight classes in the province during the 1987-88 school year. . Bokhout; McKinnon, Linton and Feagan can be booked for speaking. engagements to community Education and prevention are the only weapons AIDS in Huron groups. The public health nurses will be taking the message to the classrooms. The Health Unit offers expertise in presenting training workshops for teachers in conjunction with board of education and separate school board programs. AIDS in- formation binders are being com- piled for each of the five largest li- braries ih the county. A series of articles is also being prepared for local newspapers. The Health Unit will co-sponsor an AIDS workshop on May 4 in the Godcrich township hall. The public is invited. The county Health Units arc working closely with the public and separate school boards. H -P RC schools The AIDS education program re- quired by the province will be intro - (laced -next month in all schools un- der the jurisdiction of the Huron- Pcrth Roman Catholic Separate School board. Dr. Susan Tamblyn from the Perth Health Unit and Fa- ther Sharpe from the Huron Deanery took part in a preparatory workshop at the board office in Dublin recent- ly. The program will be integrated into the religion and family life pro- gram in grade seven -eight and grade eight classes. It is divided into three parts: present the facts on the disease and how it is transmitted, examine the moral issues as related to church teaching on sexuality, and discuss thc social issue, including compassionate treatment of those already ill with AIDS. Parents have also been kept in- formed. The Mt. Carmel CWL in- vited Father Michael Prieur from St. Peters Seminary in London and Eugene Dufours, who works with AiDS patients in St. Joseph's Hos- pital, to a meeting in early. Febru- ary. A snowstorm cancelled Dr. Linda Steele's address to the Precious Blood PTA on February 11; the INFORMATION MEETING - Dr. Linda Steele gave a noonhour presen- tation on the physical facts about AIDS to the staff of South Huron Hospi- tat. meeting has been rescheduled for so:netime after the March break. The whole idea is to let parents know what is going on, according to Dennis Mackcy, religion and education into Man in Society and Farnily Studies courses. Exeter Public School The program will start at Exeter Public School after the March Ac uired - not hereditary Immune - body's defense against disease Deficiency - having a lack of group - S y ndrome rou of conditions family life consultant with the Hu- ron -Perth board. Macke jr said some parents feel the sexual terms are too explicit, while others are in favour of the course material. "We recognize the concerns, but this is so serious we can't hide it from the children. Parents should be talking to their children. The classroom is a good place to receive this information, as it is taught with respect", Mackey said. Eventually AIDS education will be woven into the religion and fam- ily - life program for all grades. The Catholic board has arranged a meet- ing on March 1 -with teachers in other subjects to provide them with . information on AIDS,_and on how to answer questions from students in the lower grades. Huron County Board "Wc':c 'in the same business as the Catholics. We want -to teach our s'udents to live responsible; compassionate lives and to avoid the behaviour causing AIDS", re- ported Arnold Mathers, superinten- dent of program for the .Huron County Board of Education. Information sessions have been held with all public school princi- pals in the county to review the ministry directive -and materials. In- -formation mcctings have been orga- nized for the teachers who will be including the AIDS education pro- gram in their health courses. An AIDS Advisory Committee to the Huron Board comprised of edu- cation -and health officials is devel- oping a policy statement, compil ing an inventory of resources and resource personnel. Teachers on the tcam.who will be attending parent meetings will be given a one-week training course in April. The AIDS course is already in use in some Huron schools, and will be introduced into others after the March break. S1flfD11S The program has begun at South Huron District High School, for all grade nine students taking physical education. In April classes in AiDS education will be set up for those grade nincrs not taking phys ed. SIIDIIS principal Bruce Shaw said the program will continue throughout the year. It follows the ministry of education guidelines: how the disease is transmitted, how to react to it, and prevention as the kcy. Shaw foresees blending AiDS break. Ruth Linton from the Huron Health Unit will initiate the grade eight health class with a talk on hu- man sexuality. The school nurse will be part of the eight to 10 week- ly sessions from the beginning. Principal Al Taylor will invite members of the county team to par- ticipate in later classes. Taylor pointed out that all pro- grams have a proviso whereby par- - ents can exclude their children. The ministry directive states that "on the written request of a parent, or guar- dian, or a student who has reached the age of majority, the right to withdraw from any component of the physical education.or health edu- cation components shall be granted where such component is in conflict with a religious belief held by the student, guardian or parent". • Hospital procedures Dr. Bokhoutsaid hospitals in the county arc examining and imple- nricnting guidelines from the Centre for Disease Control. Gloves are worn for any procedure involving contact or exposure to body fluids . or blood. "We are acting as if everybody who enters hospital may have been exposed, and taking precautions ac- cordingly, especially with blood and body fluids, which are treated as po- tentially infected substances in .eve- ry case", Bokhout said. There is increased use of masks, scrupulous cleaning of equipment, and medical personnel are appropri- ately gowned whcn treating patients who have been in auto accidents. South Huron Hospital Dr. Debbie Waters, chief of staff of South Huron Hospital, knows of no AIDS patients who have been admitted to the Exeter_ institution. "We are following ministry guide- lines for mutual protection of all patients and staff. People are wear- ing gloves more in the emergency room, but (increased awareness of AiDS) hasn't made much difference in practice", Waters said. Dr.. Linda Steele spoke about AIDS to an informal gathering of hospital staff last week. She pre- sented the medical facts about the disease. AiDS is an acquired dis- ease. It is not transmitted by casual contact, but must get into a per- son's blood by the bodily fluids of an infected person through a sexual act or the needle of a drug user, through blood products, or from a mother with AIDS to fetus through the placenta. The disease suppresses the im- mune system, making the patient susceptible to a wide range of infec- tions. At present there is no cure. An -AIDS patient admitted to South Huron would be treated like any patient with a serious infection. - He or she would be placed in nor- mal isolation.' The diagnosis on the chart, like all diagnoses, would be confidential. Nurses and doctors in contact with bodily fluids or blood would wear gloves. Steele gave statistics showing that 82 percent -of AIDS cases are Masks are being worn more often to hospitals since AIDS began to . spread. plastic suction tips, polishing cups and brushes are disposed of after each patient. Controls have either check valves to eliminate "suck - back" after usage or even clear the lines with a puff of air when the control is released. . Like the doctors and nurses, den- tists and dental. assistants protect them.sclves and their patients by wearing gloves and protective eye- wear. - - Conclusion "We have not dealt with the un-. derlying cause", Bokhout claimed. • "We have not learned to parent our childr:n well. -We will have to BATTLING AIDS - D. Maarten Bokhout, MOH for Huron the forefront of a campaign to educate people about AIDS. homosexuals; 3.4. percent got the disease from blood products; 1.9 percent arc children; 2.2 percent are heterosexual partners of those al- ready infected, and .3 percent are in- travenous drug users. Speaking earlier as both a doctor and as a Catholic parent, Steele stressed the importance of teaching a moral lifestyle. "We have to educate the students who will be adults", she said. Siecle is satisfied with the AIDS program being prepared for the sep- arate schools in Huron -Perth. She. agrees that parents must be involved from the beginning. Anothcr im- portant factor is training the teach- ers for the job of teaching yaung children about this sexually - transmitted disease, which is more difficult for those not brought up to talk about sex. Dental offices Dentists, too, have taken meas- ures to protect their patients from infectious diseases. All needles, County, is in team better ways of raising our children." As adults we can all set • examples." Speaking -as a physician and as a scientist, he noted that "regardless of religions, humans have certain limitations, and suffer physical and psychological consequences. from behavior and practices that are not good for human .beings...Wc have chosen to turn a blind eye to sexual practices which have proved to he lethal. AIDS would never- have gained a foothold if no-one had sex multiple partners" At present, about 1,5110 people in Canada have AIDS. Bokhout pre- dicts that die disease will likely af- fect five or six- times as many over the next five years. - "1Vhat happens then will reflect on what we arc doing today. In Hu- ron, -we have a reasonable chance of keeping cxposurc.at a lbw Ievcl..:it depends on people making con- scious decisions", he concluded. m►. Manure run-off contaminating Ausable watershed By Adrian Harte The Ausablc river basin still has serious water quality problems; not because of chemical contamination, but from excess manure runoff. That was the conclusion of a Friday afternoon "seminar in the South Hu- ron Recreation Centre dealing with watershed issues. The water quality. information day, co-ordinated by the Ausable- Bayfield Conservation Authority, drew several speakers from both government and business to address theenvironmentalproblems of the river basin. Minister of Agriculture and M.P.P for Huron County Jack Rid- dell delivered a keynote address to begin the afternoon. He spoke of deteriorating water quality and ero- sion problems as pressing concerns to Ontario farmers. "If the attitude on our farms was oncc, 'we can't afford to make a change', it is now 'we can't afford not to make a change'," said Rid- dell: He -claimed his ministry is en- couraging the reduction of pesticide use and the better handling of waste products in ordcr to reduce water pollution. • Riddell pointed t government programs such as Food Systems 2002, the Ontario Soil Conserva- tion and Envronmental Protection Assistance Program, and Tillage 2000 as leaders in agricultural prac- tice improvement. • "Our soil and water improvement programs focus on the long-term, because that is where we can do the 1 most good. Clearly, land and water degradation has evolved over time, and we arc not going to wipe away its effects with a few quick fixes,' Riddell said. Murray Blackie, an agricultural impact specialist from the ministry of the environment, explained recent trends in water quality that have been documented in the regibn. Blackie noted that tradtional ex- pectations of better water quality in headwaters in more northern regions have fallen away as point -source pollution problems have been iden- tified and corrected.- Southern, downstream waters equal the quality of their sources. However, he still investigates 20- 30 major "fish kills" each year, 80- 90 percent of:which are not caused by industry but by agriculture (usu= :ally pig manure). Blackie also mentioned one fish kill heinvesti- gated when a small bottle of delous- ing agent had been spilled in a barn. The agent made its way into the drainage system and killed every liv- ing thing in a creek for seven miles. Blackie did identify a trend in funding programs that will focus at- tention on improving water quality from non -point sources, such as drainage from the average farmer's field. • "As time goes on there will be. more funding available for non - point sources,' he said. . Doug Hocking from the ABCA spoke of his work with the -authori- ty .on the 1987 beaches program which aimed at identifying and cor- • . reeling sources of bacterial contami; nation in Lake Huron. . "We have attempted to reduce, fur- ther, bacterial contamination in the watershed, not only by lending tech- nical advice, but also encouraging modification of agricultural practic- es. We try to get people not to spread manure on the snow and to reduce livestock access to water- courses," said Hocking. Tests Hocking has conducted have revealed problems with manure stor- age. Some domestic septic systems arc also at fault and are in need of repair. Government fundir.gis available to improve manure storage facilities for farmers. Hocking hopes that such meas- ures have made their mark on local water quality. In 1986 tests on the Ausable watershed discovered sal- monella bacteria in two-thirds of the samples, but in 1987 the bacteria was found only twice. The exact reason for this fluctuation is not yet known. Nevertheless, tests for all bacteria show the watershed to frequentlyez- ceed the•ministry guidelines. Phos- phorous, which causes excoss algae growth is also cited as a problem. Richard Brunkefrom the ministry of agriculture and food presented his findings on a study of 15 drainage tiles in the Parkhill watershed area. These tiles were sampled once a week to determine exactly where contamination in the form of bacte- ria and chemicals comes from. "There is still a lot to learn about bacteria• and how they get in the tile," concluded Brunke. He pointed out that some cash crop fields with no manure spread on them still pro- :. dace high levels of bacteria in drain- age water without apparent reason. Theo Beukeboom from the mini- stry of the environment discussed agricultural problems associated with the availability of ground wa- ter. "The largest cause for ground wa- ter fluctuation is rainwater," said Beukeboom, noting other geograph- ical factors also influence a healthy supply of well water: "The farther away, in general, you go from an open water point the stronger seasonal fluctuations you will see," said Beukeboom, adding that close proximity to a major user of ground water is also a source of potential water shortages. Ron Hopper from W.D. Hopper and Sons, a Seaforth well -drilling company, offered his observations on the protection of ground wale( as an essential resource.. ,When the tap runs dry, generally that's when we get concerned," Hop- per said, adding that we must take cart of this water source on a day to day basis. He pointed out that 97 .percent of the world's usable water supply lies beneath the grounli. Farmers are often drilling new wells to meet the depads of their that property; but Hoppercautioned the old well must be properly put out of service. "Make sure that it is abandoned according to the ministry specifica- tions. It is not a costly procedure, but it secures your new well from becoming polluted. Every year we have an increasing number of cases where this happens. A new well is drilled up at the house and within a month or so someone in the family becomes sick. And it is just be- cause the old well has been forgot- ten and not properly abandoned," !hipper explained. . "We all rcali'ze that we do have some serious water quality prob- lems," said thc ABCA's Alec Scott in concluding the afternoon's pro- gram. Ile hoped this realization would spur programs and co. • operative efforts to eventually find solutions to the area's watershed dif- ficulties. WATER QUALITY CONCERJ+IS - The. Honorable Minister of Agricul- ture M.P.P. Jack Riddelkdelivet'e a keynote address tokick off an after- noon of water quality information co-ordinated by the Ausable-Bayfield Conservation Authority.