Canada's Chief Public Health Officer expresses sadness over the passing of Dr. Sheela Basrur.

Canada's public health community has suffered a great loss with the passing of Dr. Sheela Basrur on June 2.

In her life and career, Sheela dealt with the widest possible range of issues, including her own cancer, with an unfailing and consummate grace.

Every day she brought to her work a passion, dedication and unflinching determination to make a difference in this world.

Sheela was the kind of person that is simply all too rare among us. She was a woman of tremendous intelligence and diplomacy, possessed of a unique ability to be passionate and encouraging of others, and blessed with the resolve to overcome any complex issue with which she was presented.

On behalf of everyone at the Public Health Agency of Canada, I extend my sincere condolences to Sheela's family in this very difficult time.

For more information, please contact

Media Inquiries:
Public Health Agency of Canada
Jacinthe Perras
Media Relations
613-941-8189

www.publichealth.gc.ca