March 18 , 2005
For Immediate Release

News Release

Minister of State for Public Health Helps Launch Important New WHO Commission on Social Determinants of Health, in Santiago, Chile

OTTAWA - The Honourable Carolyn Bennett, Minister of State for Public Health, helped formally launch the WHO's new Commission on Social Determinants of Health today. High-level dignitaries and representatives from the World Health Organization (WHO) member states, the United Nations, and other international organizations gathered in Santiago at the invitation of President Lagos of Chile to help launch the three-year, high-level Commission.

In her remarks, Dr. Bennett recognized the important contribution of Dr. Jong- wook Lee, Director-General of WHO, who called for the formation of the Commission at the 2004 World Health Assembly. The Commission marks an important step forward in finding strategies and means to improve health care and reduce health inequalities for the world's most vulnerable populations by acting on social determinants that are often the root causes of poor health. The Commission will work to turn existing knowledge on social determinants into actionable global, regional and national policy agendas.

"Poor living conditions such as poverty, food insecurity, family violence, inadequate housing, unsafe environmental conditions, social discrimination, poor working conditions and lack of education go a long way to determining an individual's level of health and are often the root causes of poor health" explained Dr. Bennett. "Finding strategies to improve these social determinants is equally, and in some cases, more important to health status than medical care and improving personal health behaviours."

Canada has been a world leader in research related to social determinants of health and has many initiatives underway to apply the population health knowledge base that it has developed. A key step forward was the recent creation of the Public Health Agency and the development of the National Collaborating Centre on Social Determinants of Health, one of six national collaborating centres across Canada.

Added Dr. Bennett: "It is our hope that the work of the Commission will make a difference and improve the health and lives of families and communities in Canada and around the world - especially in developing countries"

Dr. Bennett also congratulated Monique Begin and Stephen Lewis on their appointment as Canada's representatives on the Commission.

For more information visit: www.who.int

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Media Inquiries:

Tricia Geddes
Office of the Minister of State (Public Health)
(613) 941-8081