(DOWNLOAD) "Positioning Public Health for Future Success in Canada/Positionner la Sante Publique en Vue de Sa Reussite Future Au Canada (100 YEARS OF PUBLIC HEALTH IN CANADA: INVITED COMMENTARY/100 ANS DE SANTE PUBLIQUE AU CANADA: COMMENTAIRE Invite) (Report)" by Canadian Journal of Public Health " Book PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Positioning Public Health for Future Success in Canada/Positionner la Sante Publique en Vue de Sa Reussite Future Au Canada (100 YEARS OF PUBLIC HEALTH IN CANADA: INVITED COMMENTARY/100 ANS DE SANTE PUBLIQUE AU CANADA: COMMENTAIRE Invite) (Report)
- Author : Canadian Journal of Public Health
- Release Date : January 01, 2009
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 367 KB
Description
It is a unique opportunity to be Chair of the Canadian Public Health Association (CPHA) at a time when the Association is in transition from reflecting on its first 100 years to envisioning its future and that of the public health system in Canada. I confess that this made me wax somewhat philosophical as I pondered what to pen for this article. In other forward-looking invited commentaries published this year, (1-4) we have heard about various current trends, challenges and opportunities facing public health in Canada. We have been challenged to consider the need for public health to take action on the social determinants of health in the next century. We have also been told about the need to be prepared for emerging infectious and chronic diseases, once again with approaches that build health equity. (1-4) These statements resonate with me in my capacity as a regional Medical Officer of Health (MOH), seeing local research and reports on the health status of the population focus on the impacts of health inequity and what can be done to mitigate these impacts through program and policy changes. I concur with the analysis that the public health workforce should be far more active in advocating for changes that lead to a more equitable distribution of wealth, employment, education and housing, improved social and family supports, promotion of healthy and vibrant communities, and empowerment of the disenfranchised, as well as a more integrated approach to chronic disease prevention and management. So why have we not made more progress on these fronts as a public health system? In this paper, I focus on what I consider to be two prerequisites for success that have not yet been covered but are essential if public health hopes to make the next leap forward in health status over the next few decades in Canada: * the composition of the public health workforce;