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TDRC Media Releases |
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For immediate release Of the Report on a Public Inquiry into the State of Tuberculosis in the Homeless Population
An all day inquiry was held May 21st 2003 regarding Tuberculosis and the Homeless. Panelists who attended included a former chair of the Toronto Board of Health, a medical doctor, a social policy expert, a formerly homeless man, and a mental health outreach worker. They heard evidence from experts on homelessness, shelters, homeless health care, mental health, immigration and refugee issues, HIV/AIDS, Hep C, harm reduction, and the penal system. The report of the Inquiry will document what the panellists heard and their recommendations to remedy this serious health care issue. Please attend the press conference and release. TBAG will also use the event to deliver the report and a letter to the coroners office asking that the date of the Inquest into a homeless persons death from TB be set soon. “It’s been ages since the Inquest was announced. We are now in a worse situation than when this man died. Afterall, the SARS situation has now effectively removed the public health infrastructure and homeless people are now more vulnerable than ever. This lack of attention will only lead to another health care emergency”, says TBAG member Barb Craig, R.N. “All the kindling is there for a conflagration. All it needs is a spark”, Peter Tabuns – Inquiry Panelist and former chair of Toronto’s Board of Health, presently Executive Director of Greenpeace Canada.
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