Control of infectious diseases — Milestones

Milestones

1867 — Tuberculosis (TB) is the leading cause of death in Canada

1897 — The first Canadian sanatorium opens in Gravenhurst, Ontario, run by the Toronto-based National Sanatorium Association under the leadership of Sir William Gage.

1902 — Muskoka Free Hospital for Consumption opens, believed to be the first free sanatorium for TB treatment in the world.

1910 — The first polio outbreak in Canada is recorded.

1918 — A public education campaign against VD is the first shared federal-provincial health program.

1928 — Alberta opens the Provincial Special Hospital for Infantile Paralysis in Edmonton to treat the growing number of children crippled by polio.

View of penicillin vial being packed for shipment at the Connaught Labs.
Toronto, Ontario. May 1944.

1943 — Penicillin is used in the treatment of Canadian soldiers overseas.

1955 — The Salk polio vaccine is introduced in Canada.

1959 — The last major polio epidemic in Canada occurs, with nearly 2,000 paralytic cases.

1994 — Canada is certified “polio free” by the Global Polio Eradication Initiative.
 

Photo credit

• View of penicillin vial: Harry Rowed / National Film Board of Canada. Photothèque / Library and Archives Canada /