Organization's Role in Public Safety

• Responsible for helping the people of Canada maintain and improve their health
• Provides national leadership to develop health policy, enforce health regulations, promote disease prevention and enhance healthy living for all Canadians

Key Public Safety Activities

1. Preserving and modernizing Canada's health care system
• Managing health risks and promoting healthy lifestyles to reduce the incidence of illness and injury and the cost of treatment
2. Enhancing the health of Canadians
• Work with provincial and territorial governments and other interested partners to expand knowledge of factors affecting the health of the general population and specific at-risk groups such as children, seniors, women and First Nations peoples
3. Safeguarding the Health of Canadians
• Collaborating internationally to protect the health of Canadians against current and emerging health threats
• Works with other levels of government and the health care system in the surveillance, prevention, control and research of disease outbreaks across Canada and around the world
• Monitors health and safety risks related to the sale and use of drugs, food, chemicals, pesticides, medical devices and certain consumer products
• Negotiates agreements regarding hazardous materials in the workplace, performs medical assessments for pilots and air traffic controllers and conducts environmental health assessments
4. Working with First Nations and Inuit
• Works with First Nations and Inuit people to improve and maintain the health of Aboriginal peoples
• Enters into agreements to permit First Nations and Inuit communities to assume control over community-based health services such as communicable disease control, public health and primary nursing care, addictions counselling and treatment, health education, nutrition, environmental health, and dental advice and assistance
• Provides certain health-related benefits to Status Indian and Inuit populations and to the Innu of Labrador when the benefits are not provided by other provincial or territorial agencies or third-party plans, including drugs, medical supplies and equipment, dental care, vision care, and medical insurance premiums