Strengthening Federal Action in the Canadian Response to HIV/AIDS

Message from the Chief Public Health Officer

With the creation of the Public Health Agency of Canada on September 24, 2004, Canada is setting out on a new era of public health response built on increased coordination and cooperation. The lessons learned through our work with HIV/AIDS and other diseases will strengthen our efforts to help all Canadians live healthier lives.

Working in collaboration with Health Canada, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and Correctional Service Canada, the Agency will serve as the focal point for federal expertise in HIV/AIDS. We look forward to a period of heightened activity, enhanced partnerships and increased investments over the next five years as we progress with implementing the Federal Initiative to Address HIV/AIDS in Canada.

As part of this renewed framework, those participating in the Federal Initiative must continue to build on population-based and health determinants approaches to HIV/AIDS so that the root causes of the epidemic can be addressed and overcome. Other federal departments and agencies are already engaged in this effort, but greater alignment of policy and programs is needed to improve linkages and health outcomes. Central to our success is the leadership and engagement of people living with and vulnerable to HIV/AIDS.

The Public Health Agency of Canada will also work with the provinces and territories, the community-based HIV/AIDS movement and other sectors to develop and implement collaborative integrated strategies for HIV/AIDS and other related diseases. We will share our knowledge and expertise with the world and will apply international lessons and approaches in Canada. Through its participation in the development of Leading Together: An HIV/AIDS Action Plan for All Canada, the Agency will contribute to a more effective, coordinated and strategic Canadian response to HIV/AIDS.

Our goal is to make Canadians the healthiest people in the world. The Federal Initiative will play an important role in helping us reach that objective.

Dr. David Butler-Jones
Chief Public Health Officer

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