Health Statistics

The purpose of this report is to provide information about compliance with the Immunization of School Pupils Act and completion of school-based vaccinations in the 2023-24 school year among Halton students.

Key Findings:

• Compliance is low for students born in 2016 (15%), due to lack of reporting.
• Compliance is high for students born in 2007 (93%), due to enforcement of reporting requirements in the 2023-24 school year.
• Of the three vaccines available to grade seven students, completion is highest for the vaccine to protect against meningococcal disease (73%) and lowest for the vaccine to protect against HPV (50%).
• Completion of vaccination for HPV continues to be higher for females (54%) compared to males (47%).

The report summarizes the incidence of diseases of public health significance, including COVID-19 that were reported to Public Health, for Halton residents in 2023.

Cancer incidence, mortality, screening rates, risk factors and sociodemographic factors for leading cancers in Halton and Ontario residents are explored in this report. Cancer incidence and mortality rates are reported for 2014-2018, screening rates are reported as of December 2020, and risk factors and sociodemographic factors are reported for 2015-2017.

The purpose of this health indicator report is to provide information about diseases of public health significance (DOPHS), excluding COVID-19, prior to and during the pandemic. This will help to get a better understanding of how the pandemic and its related public health measures impacted the testing, diagnosis and reporting of new diseases of public health significance among Halton residents.

Key Findings

• The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a decline in the number of DOPHS cases reported in Ontario and in Canada overall.
• It is possible that these declines are related to measures or behaviours intended to reduce COVID-19 transmission - such as travel restrictions, physical distancing requirements or increased handwashing - since these may also reduce the spread of DOPHS other than COVID-19.
• However, these declines may have been due to a reducing in testing and diagnosis, especially for individuals with mild symptoms, or for cases that would typically be detected through regular (e.g., asymptomatic) screening.
• Among Halton residents, a decrease was seen in the number of new cases for almost all DOPHS in 2020 and 2021 compared to the previous five-year average.
• Infectious syphilis, and other syphilis were the only DOPHS for which a statistically significant increase was seen in the number of new cases reported during 2020 and 2021 compared to the previous five-year average.

The purpose of this indicator report is to provide information about the incidental impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on parents and children in Halton. It provides data regarding how parents handled the day-to-day demands of raising children and the top concerns that parents had about their children. Data were collected through the 2021 and 2022 Rapid Risk Factor Surveillance System surveys.

The purpose of this health indicator report is to provide information about emergency department (ED) visits for mental illness by residents of Halton aged 10+ to Ontario hospitals using data from the National Ambulatory Care Reporting System. Data capture only the first wave and beginning of the second wave of COVID-19 during 2020.

Key Findings

• The rate of emergency department (ED) visits for mental illness among Halton residents increased from 2011 to 2019 and then decreased from 2019 to 2020. This decrease may be related to changes in health-seeking behaviours associated with the pandemic.
• In general, residents in younger age groups tend to have higher rates of ED visits for mental illness compared to those in older age groups.
• Among younger age groups (e.g., 10-17), rates of ED visits for mental illness tend to be higher for females compared to males.
• From 2011 to 2020, rates of ED visits for mental illness were consistently lower in Halton compared to Ontario.

The purpose of this health indicator report is to provide information about food insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic, based on the responses of Halton adults aged 18 and over who participated in the 2020 COVID-19 Rapid Risk Factor Surveillance System (RRFSS) survey.

Key Findings

In October and November of 2020:

• 13% of Halton respondents said they could not afford balanced meals over the past 30 days, while 11% said that food bought did not last and 9% said they ate less than they felt they should because there wasn’t enough money to buy more food.
• 39% of Halton respondents said that they found it somewhat or a lot harder to pay for one or more household expenses, such as enough food or the quality or variety of food they wanted, during the pandemic.
• 17% of Halton respondents said they were worried about the loss of food programs or services for themselves or their household. Respondents aged 25 to 44 were the most likely to indicate that they were worried.

The purpose of this health indicator report is to provide information about changes in substance use since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, based on the responses of Halton adults aged 18 and over who participated in the 2020 COVID-19 Rapid Risk Factor Surveillance System (RRFSS) survey.

Key Findings

In October and November of 2020:

• 25% of Halton respondents indicated they were drinking more alcohol since the beginning of the pandemic, while 41% were drinking the same amount and 11% were drinking less.
• Younger respondents were more likely to report drinking more alcohol since the beginning of the pandemic than older respondents.
• 11% of respondents indicated that they consumed more cannabis since the beginning of the pandemic, while 7% reported smoking more cigarettes and 3% reported using e-cigarettes more.

The purpose of this health indicator report is to provide information about mental health since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, based on the responses of Halton adults aged 18 and over who participated in the 2020 COVID-19 Rapid Risk Factor Surveillance System (RRFSS) survey.

Key Findings

In October and November of 2020:

• 30% of survey respondents in Halton indicated that their mental health and emotional well-being was fair or poor over the past two weeks, while 36% said it was good and 33% said it was very good or excellent.
• Respondents who were female or aged 18 to 24 were most likely to report that their mental health had been fair or poor in the past two weeks.
• 52% of respondents said that their mental health and well-being had worsened due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• 71% of respondents were worried about the mental health of themselves or others in their household, while 53% were concerned about burning out because they had no break from their responsibilities.

The purpose of this health indicator report is to provide information on the prescribing of opioid medications to individuals living in Halton Region. This report uses data from the Ontario Drug Policy Research Network (ODPRN), and reports differences between Halton and Ontario over time, and by type of user, sex, and age.