April 22, 2005
For Immediate Release

News Release

Minister of State (Public Health) Announces Funding for Six National Collaborating Centres to Strengthen Public Health in Canada

OTTAWA - The Minister of State for Public Health, the Honourable Carolyn Bennett, today announced the establishment of developmental funding to bring six National Collaborating Centres (NCCs) for Public Health into full operational status.

The National Collaborating Centres will contribute to strengthening Canada's public health system by facilitating information sharing and collaboration between federal, provincial and territorial governments, academic institutions, international experts, non-government organizations, researchers and health professionals. Each NCC will connect, cooperate, collaborate and communicate with a wide variety of stakeholders in the public health community to create important new linkages that will make Canada's public health infrastructure more efficient and effective.

"Establishing the six National Collaborating Centres marks an important step for public health in Canada", said Minister Bennett. "Each NCC will specialize in a different priority area of public health and will be a focal point for regional, national and international knowledge and expertise. Their primary function is to ensure that the latest knowledge and network expertise is available to promote and protect the health of Canadians".

Through these linkages, the National Collaborating Centres for Public Health will go beyond Dr. David Naylor's recommendation to create a "hub and spoke model whereby links are made to existing regional centres" and into a web of regional, national and international networks.

"The National Collaborating Centres provide a unique opportunity for many sectors involved in public health to coordinate, connect and collaborate in knowledge sharing and leading edge initiatives", added the Minister of Health, Ujjal Dosanjh. "We are extremely pleased that these centres are now up and running".

Each NCC will have a national agenda but will work in a specialized area of public health and be based in a different region of the country. The NCCs are located as follows: environmental health in British Columbia; infectious disease in Winnipeg; public health methodologies and tools in Ontario; public policy and risk assessment in Quebec; health determinants in Atlantic Canada and Aboriginal health in British Columbia. The NCCs will contribute to the development of an overall pan-Canadian public health strategy.

Start-up funding from the 2004-2005 budget of $250,000 per Centre has been allocated as developmental money to help bring them into full operational status. The overall budget for all National Collaborating Centers for the 2005-2006 period is $10 million.

Along with the creation of the Public Health Agency of Canada, the Public Health Network and the on-going consultation around Canadian public health Goals, the National Collaborating Centres are an integral part of the government's overall national strategy to strengthen the public health system in Canada.

Backgrounder

• The National Collaborating Centres for Public Health

-30-

Media Inquiries:

Tricia Geddes
Office of Minister Bennett
Tel: (613) 941-8081

Adele Blanchard
Office of Minister Dosanjh
Tel: (613) 957-0200

Jean-Mathieu Dion
Public Health Agency of Canada
Tel: (613) 948-7970