Communicable Disease Control Division

The Communicable Disease Control Division (CDCD) was staffed in April 2003 within the Primary Health Care and Public Health Directorate (PHCPHD) to bring a focus to communicable diseases (CD), in particular, Tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, and Vaccine-Preventable Diseases. The division will continue to improve its capacity to better address other communicable disease issues, including hepatitis C, sexually transmitted illnesses, enteric diseases, and other emerging diseases within the First Nations and Inuit communities.

The CDCD is responsible for:

1. Providing national coordination for current CD programmes:
   • Airborne diseases (Tuberculosis Elimination Strategy)
   • Communicable disease health emergencies (Pandemic Influenza)
   • Blood-borne Diseases and Sexually Transmitted Infections (HIV/AIDS Program)
2. Assuring core human resource and expert capacity to deal with other CD issues.
3. Supporting the Regions in the implementation of the programmes.

Since 2003, the CDCD of the First Nations and Inuit Health Branch (FNIHB) has commissioned independent analyses and conducted internal reviews of the Public Health requirements and capacities of the branch and the populations it serves. FNIHB has developed a strategy for addressing core public health functions including disease surveillance, immunization and communicable disease outbreak investigation and control.