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The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) was created in 2004 in order to lead federal efforts and cross-Canada action in preventing disease and injury, and promoting and protecting national and international public health. PHAC and Health Canada both focus their activities on how the key determinants of health (located in the economic, social and environmental pillars of SD), interact and impact the overriding goal of sustained health and well-being for Canadians. The two entities differ in their approach to reaching this goal, thus creating a “two-pronged” federal response to health and SD issues in Canada:
With these distinct approaches, activities in both SDSs provide complementary mechanisms to reach the goals shared by the two entities. Specific connections can also be drawn between the two strategies, including:
Area of complementarity |
Health
Canada SDS 4 |
PHAC SDS 2 |
Healthy and |
Helping to create healthy social and physical environments is
the first goal of Health Canada's SDS 4. Activities include
providing guidance, indicators and communication/awareness
regarding pesticide use (by the Pesticide Management Regulatory
Agency), promoting a high level of environmental quality in
communities through environmental site assessments of health
centres, guidelines on the health effects of noise for
environmental assessments, and education and awareness to promote
healthy choices. HC SDS IV: targets 1.3.5, 1.3.7, 1.3.6, 1.3.8, 1.3.9, 1.3.3, 1.3.4, 1.3.11, 1.3.12 |
PHAC has a population-oriented approach to meeting the goal of
healthy and sustainable communities. Because of the potential
impacts of a changing climate on the vectors of infectious disease
and public health emergencies, PHAC will create a committee to
advise program and policy areas on the health implications of a
changing climate. PHAC's SDS includes an education program on
infectious disease organisms that are becoming increasingly
resistant to antibiotics, as well as a program to reduce the risks
to human health from foodborne and waterborne diseases arising from
animals and the agro-environment. |
Healthy Food/ Healthy Living |
Health Canada's Health Products and Food Branch (HPFB) has
several programs involved in ensuring a healthy and sustained food
supply for all Canadians. HPFB works towards minimizing health risk
factors to Canadians while maximizing safety with regard to health
products and foods, and promotes conditions to enable Canadians to
make healthy choices and informed decisions about their health.
Under its SDS 4, HC will establish policies and standards under the
Smart Regulations initiative including policies related to the
nutritional quality of foods (trans fats, food fortification,
product-specific health claims). HC SDS IV: targets 1.4.1, 1.4.2, 1.5.1, 1.5.2, 1.5.3 |
PHAC is working with participating provinces and territories to
help increase the proportion of Canadians who participate in
physical activity, eat healthier diets and have healthy
weights. |
First Nations Health | HC has numerous targets in its SDS 4 that are focused on
achieving equality in access to health care for First Nations and
Inuit communities. It will help build First Nations' capacity
for water quality monitoring to ensure these communities have
continued access to sufficient quantities and a reliable quality of
drinking water and promote SD and environmental management in First
Nations communities. HC SDS IV: targets 1.2.1, 1.2.3, 1.3.1, 1.3.2, 1.3.4 |
PHAC offers community-based programs directed at women,
children and families living in conditions of risk. One of these
programs provides funds to local Aboriginal organizations to
provide health promotion programs for off-reserve children up to
age 6. PHAC SDS 2 target: 1.2.4 |
Green Procurement | Health Canada's SDS 4 puts forth several targets aimed at
minimizing the environmental and health effects of its physical
operations and activities. Activities focusing on green procurement
include purchasing more energy-efficient computers and monitors,
developing tracking tools to monitor green purchases, providing a
course on green procurement to all materiel managers and
procurement personnel, and developing a directive and action plan
on responsible paper use. HC SDS IV: targets 2.3.1, 2.3.2, 2.3.3, 2.6 |
PHAC is already active in greening its operations and has
included three targets in its SDS 2 to ensure that it conducts its
operations in a sustainable manner. PHAC's green procurement
initiatives include providing green procurement training to 75% of
materiel managers, integrating green procurement into training for
acquisition cards, moving toward establishing effective and
efficient green procurement tracking processes, and committing to
meet the Government of Canada standards for operations of office
equipment. PHAC SDS 2 targets: 2.1.1, 2.1.2, 2.1.3 |
Sustainable Transportation | Health Canada's Office of Sustainable Development will
follow sustainable transportation principles to pilot a local
business travel initiative. This target advocates travel planning
and management that considers environmental principles, economic
requirements and employee needs, to rationalize local business
travel and improve the range of sustainable transportation
services. HC SDS 4: target: 2.5 |
PHAC's SDS recognizes that integrating sustainable
transportation programs into daily operational practices can reduce
environmental impacts, including the emission of greenhouse gases.
This SDS proposes to increase awareness of green travel options to
50% of all PHAC employees, in order to integrate sustainable
transportation programs into PHAC travel practices. PHAC SDS 2 target: 2.1.4 |
Integrating Sustainable Development into Processes |
Training policy planners and analysts in SD is necessary in
order to strengthen federal governance and decision making, one of
the six government-wide priorities for the 2007-2009 Sustainable
Development Strategies. To achieve this, Health Canada will join
with other departments and the Canada School of Public Service to
design and implement Government of Canada sustainable development
training material. HC SDS 4 target: 2.4.1 |
PHAC's SDS 2 establishes a target aimed at ensuring that
employees understand how their work relates to SD. It calls for 75%
of employees to understand how SD applies to their work. Other
targets have been designed to build the governance structures
required to incorporate SD into PHAC decision-making: an SD policy,
mechanisms for planning and reporting on SD, incorporation of SD
concepts into financial reviews and use of existing management
structures for oversight of the SD strategy. PHAC SDS 2 targets: 3.1.2, 3.2.1, 3.3.1, 3.3.2, 3.3.3 |
Sustainable development means development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
It is a continually evolving concept based on the integration of social, economic and environmental concerns, which may be achieved by, among other things,
At their annual meeting in October 2005, federal, provincial and territorial Ministers of Health agreed on a set of goals for improving the health of Canadians. The Health Goals for Canada were developed collaboratively among Canadian governments, experts in public health and other areas, stakeholders and citizens. Ministers agreed that the goals would inform each provincial and territorial government in development of their own initiatives.
The goals statements are broad and meant to express the collective hopes and expectations of Canadians regarding their health. Rather than a detailed map that lays out exactly how to get there, the goals are intended to be guideposts indicating a path to improve the health and quality of life of Canadians. Quebec intends to determine its own objectives, standards and criteria.
As a nation, we aspire to a Canada in which every person is as healthy as they can be - physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.
Canada is a country where:
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