News Release
1999-04
January 14, 1999
Rock and Anderson announce funds for community support, health and research projects for British Columbia
Ottawa - Health Minister Allan Rock and Fisheries and Oceans Minister David Anderson, today announced federal funding for 37 community support, health care and research projects in British Columbia, as part of the federal government's commitment to help preserve and strengthen Medicare and to improve the health of Canadians.
"Canadians want to know that they and their loved ones can obtain quality health care when they need it," said Mr. Rock. "The federal government is committed to ensuring a high quality health care system, and projects like these, that protect and promote good health, are vitally important to achieving that goal. In addition, investments in early child development are important in determining the future health of children."
"British Columbia residents, like all Canadians, are concerned about the health care system," said Mr. Anderson. "Today's announcement will make an important contribution to strengthening community-based health care in British Columbia and ensure that British Columbia communities are healthy communities."
The 37 projects will receive more than $5.1 million from the federal government to allow health care providers and community organizations to better deliver health care services and programs aimed at children, seniors, Aboriginals, pregnant women, the disabled, and community-based management of health care.
As part of today's announcement, Minister Rock and British Columbia Minister of Health, Penny Priddy, announced funding of $1.5 million for six innovative projects in the areas of home care and integrated service delivery. Mr. Rock also announced funding of $380,000 for a national project to provide information for a national drug utilization model. Funding will be provided under the federal government's Health Transition Fund. Since September 1998, the Health Transition Fund has provided more than $15 million for projects in British Columbia.
The Government of Canada has introduced a number of innovative programs and initiatives to promote good health at all stages of life and to strengthen health research.
The following summaries describe the program areas for the 37 projects announced today:
The Health Transition Fund
The Health Transition Fund was established by the federal government in 1997 in response to a recommendation by the National Forum on Health. It is designed to generate information and evidence on the organization, funding and delivery of health services in four priority areas -- home care, pharmacare, primary care and integrated service delivery. The fund provides $30 million to national level projects and $120 million to provincial and territorial projects on a per capita basis.
The Community Action Program for Children (CAPC)
The Community Action Program for Children (CAPC) provides long-term funding to community groups to establish and deliver services that respond to the developmental needs of children from birth to six years of age, who are living in conditions of risk. CAPC-funded prevention and early intervention activities help children get a better start in life, prepare them for school and improve their chances of growing into healthy adults. CAPC has a total annual budget of $59.5 million. There are close to 400 projects in existence across the country.
The Canada Prenatal Nutrition Program (CPNP)
The Canada Prenatal Nutrition Program (CPNP) is a Red Book initiative announced in July 1994. Funded by the federal government and co-managed with the provinces and territories, the CPNP helps communities develop or enhance programs for at-risk pregnant women in order to improve birth outcomes. CPNP-funded projects offer food supplementation, nutrition counselling, support, education, as well as referral and counselling on such lifestyle issues as alcohol abuse, stress and family violence. CPNP has a total budget of $24.9 million, with over $7 million targeted for programs for First Nations women living on reserves.
The Population Health Fund
Health Canada has adopted a population health approach to further its continuing mandate to maintain and improve the health of Canadians. This approach recognizes that many factors, in addition to the health care system, have a strong influence on health, for example: nutrition, physical activity, or education. The approach promotes prevention and positive action on determinants which affect the health of the population as a whole, or that of specific population groups. The goal of the Population Health Fund, which has an annual budget of $14 million, is to increase community capacity for action on the determinants of health. To achieve this goal, projects that facilitate intersectoral planning and coordinated actions among voluntary organizations, service providers, governments and the private sector are supported.
The National Health Research and Development Program (NHRDP)
The National Health Research and Development Program (NHRDP) funds research and development to advance the understanding of, and response to, national health issues. Since 1975, the NHRDP, which has an annual budget of $12 million, has made critical contributions to the development of health knowledge in Canada and has supported a core of highly qualified researchers who have worked on a wide range of health issues.
The federal government will continue to support a health care system that is flexible, that maintains the fundamental principles of Medicare, is integrated, encourages community action, and is based on sound information.
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Media Inquiries
Derek Kent
Office of Allan Rock
(613) 957-1515
Public Inquiries
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