The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA

Abstract #38438

Rosemarie R. Ramsingh, MD, FRCPC, Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Control, Population and Public Health Branch, Health Canada, room 1873C, Jeanne Mance Building, A.L. 1918C1, Tunney's Pasture, Ottawa, ON K1A 1B4, Canada, (613) 941-4936, rosemarie_ramsingh@hc-sc.gc.ca

Over the last ten years, there have been major changes to the public health system in Canada that have presented unique problems for the integration and co-ordination of public health services. Despite the capacity issues of public health to deliver services for chronic disease prevention, three out of every four adults in Canada has one major modifiable risk factor for many chronic diseases (smoking, overweight, or physical inactivity)¹. With the aging population, the burden of chronic disease on the population is expected to increase significantly. Hence, a number of Canadian organizations collectively recognized the need to have an integrated and comprehensive initiative for chronic disease prevention for the country, with adequate infrastructure at the community/local, provincial, and federal levels.

The initiative was spearheaded by national NGO's in Canada concerned with chronic disease prevention. They engaged the federal and provincial governments into partnership to build the national system by linking together/co-ordinating existing work and addressing gaps where they were discovered. This initiative also recognizes the importance of intersectoral action in creating enabling environments for risk factor behavior change, and thus, engages the different sectors- such as transportation, urban development, food and nutrition. This is a unique initiative in terms of its scope and the nature of public-private partnerships being created. This presentation will highlight the context of public health infrastructure in chronic disease prevention in Canada, the Canadian approach to developing this integrated chronic disease prevention initiative, some of the lessons learned and progress to date.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of this session, the participant in this session will be able to

• Describe the current public health infrastructure related to chronic disease in Canada
• Identify 3-4 key lessons learned through the Canadian experience of building the national chronic disease preventive public health infrastructure.
• To describe the Canadian model of developing an integrated strategy for the primary prevention of chronic disease.

Keywords: Chronic Diseases, Partnerships

Related Web page: none

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: No products or services will be discussed for which there is any potential conflict of interest.
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.