Thunder Bay will host Province-wide Injury Prevention Conference : Thunderbay IMC

Thunder Bay, ON: Thunder Bay is set to become the first northern community to ever host the Ontario Injury Prevention Conference, it was announced today. Organized and sponsored by SMARTRISK, the Ministry of Health Promotion, the Ministry of Transportation and the Ontario Public Health Association, the Ontario Injury Prevention Conference will attract health and safety practitioners to address leading public health issues and to reduce the rate of intentional and unintentional injuries in the province.

The province has appointed two Thunder Bay representatives to co-chair the event, Tom Marinis of the Ministry of Transportation and Marita Campbell of the Thunder Bay District Health Unit. The 2007 conference theme of "Preserving Our People: Strategies Designed For Life" will focus on leading-edge injury prevention strategies that target the needs of people of all ages, living in different geographic, social and economic environments.

Says Marita Campbell; “Injury is the leading cause of death for Ontarians aged one to 44 years. In fact, every hour of every day, 65 people in Ontario are injured and roughly 11 people die from their injuries each day. Injury also poses one of the greatest economic burdens on the province at more than $5.7 billion annually. Yet, most injuries are predictable and preventable.”

Dr. Wayne Hammond, Resiliency Canada, Calgary Alberta, Peter Levesque, Centre of Excellence for Child and Youth Mental Health, Ottawa Ontario, and Dave Jones, Turtle Concepts, who will be appearing on the Oprah Winfrey show later this summer, were also announced today as the OIPC 2007 keynote speakers.

Continues Marita Campbell; “Many people from across Ontario worked hard to secure the 2007 Ontario Injury Prevention Conference for Thunder Bay. This year’s conference will focus on a variety of provincial safety issues including Aboriginal issues such as suicide prevention. We are truly looking forward to welcoming delegates from across the province to Thunder Bay.”

Tom Marinis of the Ministry of Transportation believes the current approach to improving road safety in Ontario is working. "We have one of the best road safety records in North America. Our road safety initiatives are working and OIPC is an opportunity to showcase initiatives that are helping us reduce the fatality rate to zero."

Over 50 presentations and workshops as well as the Ontario Road Safety Luncheon will be part of the three day conference which runs from June 3-5, 2007. Many local researchers and practitioners will be part of the program agenda. In addition, delegates will be treated to a Welcome Symposium at Whitewater Golf Club and a Gala Dinner at Fort William Historical Park.

Early bird registration ends May 11th, 2007. For more information visit: http://www.oipc.org.