Peel Public Health presents 2024 achievements

BRAMPTON, Ont. – May 22, 2025. In its annual report to Regional Council this week, Peel Public Health’s Medical Officer of Health Dr. Hamidah Meghani presented the department's achievements in 2024, reinforcing its continued commitment to delivering high-quality, accessible services to improve the health of Peel’s growing and diverse community.  

As one of the fastest-growing regions in Ontario, Peel is home to a diverse population with unique health needs. In 2024, Peel Public Health made notable progress in meeting these challenges, advancing its mission to improve public health outcomes and address the social determinants of health through innovative, person-centred programs and services. 

Public Health’s Strategic Plan is aligned with the Health Services transformation strategy, both of them contributing to Peel Region’s 2024-2027 Strategic Agenda.  In Peel, Regional Council serves as Peel’s Board of Health and has been central to Public Health’s 2024 achievements, which included:    

• 367 confirmed communicable disease outbreaks investigated in community and institutional settings
• Administered 71,634 immunizations and distributed 908,300 doses of vaccine to Peel healthcare partners.
• 8,418 free doses of medication distributed to community partners to treat and reduce the risk of spread of sexually transmitted infections.
• 7,264 families with babies and young children and expectant parents visited to help ensure healthy pregnancies, births, and child development, as part of the Healthy Babies Healthy Children Program s
• Provided oral health services to 76,744 children and 7,272 seniors through the mandated Healthy Smiles Ontario and Ontario Seniors Dental Care programs. 

For full details on 2024 Highlights: Peel Public Health Year in Review  

Addressing the growing challenges in Peel 

While Peel Public Health made progress in 2024, there are continued challenges in providing health services to a growing and diverse population, including: 

• Increasing demand and complexity of public health issues. This includes Peel's population growth, which is expected to surpass 1.6 million by 2030, creating increased pressure on public health services.
• Insufficient increase in provincial funding, which has not kept pace with population growth, inflation, and service demands.
• Advancing health equity: Many Peel residents face challenges such as food insecurity, housing instability and unemployment, all of which are linked to poorer health outcomes.  

Looking ahead: health and well-being for all 

In 2025 and beyond, Public Health will continue to focus on the following priorities:  

• Stabilizing services to address community needs: Public Health will continue to improve program and service efficiencies based on changing community needs and strengthening capacity for quality improvement.
• Continued advocacy for additional Provincial funding: Public health across Ontario continues to be underfunded, with public health units seeing only a one per cent increase to their base budgets over the past years.
• Strengthening emergency, epidemic, and pandemic preparedness: Public Health is enhancing processes, training and supports to be prepared for public health-related emergencies, epidemics, and pandemics as they arise. For example, measles activity has increased in Ontario, reflecting global trends, lower vaccination rates, international travel and local outbreaks spreading in under-vaccinated communities.
• Improving immunization efforts to protect the population from vaccine preventable diseases: Public Health is updating its multi-year immunization plan to increase compliance of immunization among school children, a key priority population whose coverage was impacted during the pandemic. Public Health is also building on key partnerships with primary care and external agencies that serve priority populations to improve access to immunization across Peel. 

For more information on Peel Public Health’s programs, services, and 2020 – 2029 Strategic Priorities for the Future, visit www.peelregion.ca/health.