Environmental Health, Immunisation, Communicable Disease Control

Gold Coast Public Health Unit:

• undertakes the early detection, surveillance,  investigation and control of communicable and diseases in the community.  In particular, preventing disease spreading from person to person, from animals to people (zoonotic diseases) and from insects to people (vector borne diseases).
• undertakes health risk assessments and provides advice to other agencies and the public to mitigate and minimise the impact environmental health hazards, mostly relating to soil and air, have on individuals and the community.
• is responsible for monitoring and enforcing certain provisions of the Food Act 2006 and Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code to ensure food for sale is safe and suitable for human consumption, to prevent misleading conduct relating to the sale of food and to ensure food complies with prescribed standards.
• is responsible for enforcing Queensland’s tobacco laws.
• provides immunisation coordination and free immunisation services via both community and school immunisation clinics.
• contributes to a multi- agency response during disasters and events. Our objective is to help prevent, prepare for, respond to and recover from events causing public health risks in the community.
• assesses and investigates public health risks associated with reticulated drinking water provider notifications, dual reticulation cross contamination and recycled water incidents and fluoridation incidents.
• provides epidemiology and health surveillance services to investigate and monitor disease risks and the health and wellbeing of populations.  We also contribute information gathered on health status and disease trends to the development of public health policy and preventative health care.