• Dr. John Frank seconded to Public Health Agency of Canada
  Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) - 2004-10-28

May 2004

Information

National Collaborating Centres for Public Health

The Government of Canada's commitment to renew and strengthen public health includes the establishment of the initial six National Collaborating Centres for Public Health.

Building on regional expertise, the centres will provide national focal points for key priority areas in public health and contribute to the development of a pan-Canadian public health strategy.

Each National Collaborating Centre will draw on regional expertise and complement the contributions of other organizations in the pan-Canadian public health system, including the Public Health Agency of Canada, the provinces and territories, academia and non-governmental organizations.

As a primary goal, the centres will build on existing strengths and create and foster linkages among researchers, the public health community and other stakeholders to ensure the efficiency and effectiveness of Canada's public health system. The National Collaborating Centres will facilitate the sharing of knowledge and help put it into practice at all levels of the public health system across Canada.

Goals of the centres include:

• generating knowledge that can improve the effectiveness of policies, programs and practices that protect and promote the health of Canadians, respond to threats to health and health emergencies, and reduce disparities in health status;
• producing a better understanding of the factors that affect Canadians' health;
• producing information on infectious and chronic diseases and possible measures for their prevention and control;
• contributing to the training and mentoring of future public health researchers and practitioners;
• championing best public health practices across the country; and
• fostering collaboration among governments, researchers, the public health community and other stakeholders.

The centres are not intended to assume the complete responsibility for these goals but will add to and catalyse current efforts.

The first six centres will work on priority areas of interest, as follows:

1. The National Collaborating Centre for Determinants of Health (Atlantic Canada)

Canadians' health status varies widely from region to region and population to population, and it can depend on and be influenced by a number of complex factors. In close collaboration with researchers, the public health community, and government and non-governmental organizations, this centre will study the role of the "social determinants of health" - factors such as physical and cultural isolation, income/socio-economic status, employment, immigration status, mental illness, and risk behaviours such as smoking and lack of physical activity.

2. The National Collaborating Centre for Public Policy and Risk Assessment (Quebec)

This centre will study the impact of public policy on Canadians' health and well-being. It will consider both health policy and policy in other areas, such as transportation and urbanization.

The centre's work will include the broad assessment, management and communication of risks to health and the possible mitigating actions, with emphasis on the social determinants of health and the physical environment. The goal of this research is to minimize risks that play a role in acute and chronic diseases.

Obviously, this centre will work closely with others such as the Centre for the Determinants of Health in Atlantic Canada and the Centre for Environmental Health in British Columbia.

3. The National Collaborating Centre for Infrastructure, Info-Structure and New Tools Development (Ontario)

Drawing on expertise throughout Ontario, this centre will focus on how public health information is gathered and used (through, for example, disease surveillance systems). The aim is to ensure that public health professionals can easily draw from, use and contribute to the information they need to do their jobs. The centre will also investigate how this information can help to improve health human resource training and planning, as well as work on citizen engagement, health promotion and social marketing.

The difficult but valuable lessons of last year's SARS outbreak will contribute to the centre's development of information and communication tools and approaches that not only meet the day-to-day requirements of public health professionals but that also have the flexibility to respond to various other demands, including public health emergencies.

4. The National Collaborating Centre for Infectious Diseases (Prairies)

This centre will focus on addressing the present and future risks of emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases in Canada.

Facilities and universities throughout the Prairies have been recognized as international leaders in infectious diseases and life sciences research. The region is home to Canada's only Level 4 microbiology lab for human health, which allows scientists and researchers to work safely with the most serious pathogens. The centre's academic partners will be found throughout Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta.

The National Collaborating Centre for Infectious Diseases will complement and build on ongoing research that is advancing global understanding of emerging diseases such as SARS, West Nile virus and BSE. The centre will also be involved in training, nationally and internationally, the next generation of emerging infectious disease specialists.

5. The National Collaborating Centre for Environmental Health (British Columbia)

The effects of the environment on human health are increasingly well known. However, the importance of the environment and its changes, and the role that public health plays in reducing adverse effects or promoting environmental improvements, needs to be explored further in Canada.

Building on an extensive foundation of knowledge from its key partners, the centre will look at how, for example, climate, water quality, food quality, air quality and shelter influence the state of human health. Infectious agents, toxins, chemical agents, and workplace health and injuries will also be taken into account.

6. The National Collaborating Centre for Aboriginal Health (British Columbia)

Despite improvements in life expectancy and infant mortality over the last 20 years, the health status of First Nations and Inuit remains significantly poorer than that of the average Canadian. First Nations and Inuit are four times more likely to die from intentional or unintentional injuries compared with other Canadians. The suicide rate, for example, is three to four times the rate of the Canadian population, while the rate in Nunavut alone is six to seven times higher. First Nations and Inuit in Canada have a high rate of chronic disease, including Type 2 diabetes, which is three times the national average. Experience is similar with infectious diseases. While Aboriginal people make up 5% of the total population, they represent 16% of new HIV infections.

Effects of low socio-economic status and physical and cultural isolation are complex, and the Centre for Aboriginal Health will integrate its activities with the Aboriginal community, researchers, health professionals and government departments at many levels when developing priorities for research, evaluation and knowledge translation. Research priorities will take into account the health status of urban Aboriginal Canadians as well as those who live in rural and remote communities. Partners in the establishment of the Centre for Aboriginal Health will include the British Columbia government; Aboriginal organizations and communities; academic institutions such as the Indigenous Peoples Health Research Centre (a collaboration between First Nations University of Canada and the universities of Regina and Saskatchewan) and the Northern Ontario Medical School; and other provinces and territories.