May 12, 2005
For Immediate Release

News Release

Minister Dosanjh Announces Funding for Multicultural Healthy Living Project

OTTAWA - The Honourable Ujjal Dosanjh, Minister of Health and Member of Parliament for Vancouver South, today announced funding of $187,825 to the Affiliation of Multicultural Societies & Service Agencies of BC for their project entitled, "Promoting Healthy Living in BC's Multicultural Communities."

The project will partner with a range of health, immigrant, community research, and educational organizations. It will operate under the overall goal of supporting effective intercultural communication in the area of public health.

"I'm delighted that the Public Health Agency of Canada was able to support this worthwhile initiative, said Minister Dosanjh. "This project will identify public health needs of multicultural communities, and support effective intercultural communication help ensure that culturally appropriate health services are optimized in these communities."

The project is comprised of three phases: holding a Multicultural Healthfair; using a community health assessment to identify the needs of, and services for, key multi-ethnic, multilingual communities in BC; and producing a multicultural health directory.

Through this project, that is funded by the Population Health Fund, health organizations, immigrant groups and community service agencies will be more actively engaged in an ongoing effort to optimize culturally appropriate services. As well, health policy developers and service planners will have a significant reference base for the level and range of services needed across BC's multicultural communities, and BC's multicultural citizens will be more actively engaged in identifying and accessing culturally appropriate health services.

-30-

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

Adèle Blanchard
Office of the Minister of Health
(613) 957-0200

Public Inquiries:
(613) 957-2991