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Latest OECD Figures Confirm Canada as a Public Health Laggard

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Abstract

Despite the Canadian public health community’s commitments to promoting public policy that supports health, evidence indicates that Canada’s public health picture continues to decline. This may be due in part to the failure of public health agencies and local public health units to engage in public policy advocacy and public education about the social determinants of health. Examples of such activities by local public health units are now available and provide a model for such activity.

Résumé

Bien que la communauté de la santé publique se soit engagée à promouvoir les politiques publiques qui favorisent la santé, il est prouvé que le portrait de la santé publique au Canada continue à se détériorer. Cela s’expliquerait en partie par le fait que les organismes de santé publique et les bureaux de santé publique locaux ne mènent pas d’activités de défense des politiques publiques ni de sensibilisation aux déterminants sociaux de la santé. Des exemples de telles activités par des bureaux de santé publique locaux sont maintenant disponibles et offrent un modèle à suivre.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Health, Health, School of Health Policy and Management, Nursing & Environmental Studies Building, Room 418, 4700 Keele Street, Toronto, ON, M3J 1P3, Canada

    Dennis Raphael PhD

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  1. Dennis Raphael PhD
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Correspondence to Dennis Raphael PhD.

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Conflict of Interest: None to declare.

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Raphael, D. Latest OECD Figures Confirm Canada as a Public Health Laggard. Can J Public Health 103, e425–e427 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03405631

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