100 years of Progress in Public Health!!

Last week, from June 13-16, the Canadian Public Health Association celebrated its 100th birthday at their annual conference held, this year, in Toronto.

Over 1500 delegates from all over the country and abroad were there to join in the celebrations and hear from a vast array of experts on the achievements of the last century in public health and the challenges ahead. The opening session was particularly interesting as former Health Ministers Marc Lalonde, Monique Begin and Jake Epp talked about their major accomplishments in public health and the continuous move to recognizing the social and economic factors which influence health status. They were joined by former Saskatchewan Premier Roy Romanow who is now Chairing the Advisory Board of the Institute of Wellbeing and by Madeleine Dion Stout, Past President of the Aboriginal Nurses Association of Canada, who was able to speak eloquently about the health challenges faced by so many aboriginal communities across the country.

I had the opportunity to participate in numerous sessions and to present BCAHL’s work and recommendations in our recent report “Healthy Futures for BC Families” on social determinants of health and health inequities. It’s interesting how many other provinces are doing similar work and focusing on the community level – particularly Manitoba. Great to know we are all working towards a common goal.

Also was impressed by Andre Picard’s column about the Conference in the June 17 edition of the Globe and Mail where he too advocated the need for public health to take on the challenges of the social, economic and environmental issues which impact so
dramatically our health status.

Mary Collins
Director, BC Alliance for Healthy Living Secretariat