Calgary Roundtable Report

In Calgary, the Minister of State met approximately 22 Alberta public health stakeholders.

They advised the Minister to consider the following factors in building a Public Health Agency of Canada.

An Agency needs to take the lead in restoring federal-provincial cooperation in public health:
- A lot can be done with federal leadership if that relationship is better - especially in national disease surveillance;
- Federal Agency should help set national best practices and health goals; and,
- If a federal Agency sets national goals and objectives, they can increase public health accountability at all levels.
The Agency should spearhead public health research:
- To tell us which population-based interventions are working; and,
- Must be done at a federal level because large populations are needed for research.
Not just focusing on individual accountability for health, but especially on social determinants of health;
Should pay particular attention to vulnerable groups; and,
Should have, as part of its mission, the need to work with a wide range of health disciplines.

An Agency should consider:

Ways for all levels of government to avoid the "tyranny of the acute":
- Acute health care issues tend to grab the most attention and funds, depriving public heath of scarce resources; and,
- Better training in medical schools for public health may be one way to shift the culture.
Engaging First Nations people directly in their communities, not just through the Assembly of First Nations:
- First Nations and Inuit Health Branch of Health Canada can't address all the health problems that aboriginal communities face.
Working directly with municipal governments:
- They are a ready-made conduit to lots of Canadians for citizen engagement; and,

Federal Agency should also have a voice in local planning for specific populations, such as seniors.

The positive effect of health regionalization - in creating closer relations between public health and clinical health sectors:
- For example, infection control in Lethbridge reports to a public health officer.
Animal Health should be recognized as part of the public health system:
- Many, if not most of the infectious diseases mentioned in Naylor report have an animal host.

Participants urged an Agency to focus on the following priority investments:

Restoring a strong disease surveillance system;
Ensure that health money doesn't just go into acute care and primary care, especially in provinces that have regionalized health and health care;
Investing in enough staff for surge capacity in case of an emergency:
- Federal-provincial-regional coordination helps ensure there is no duplication of efforts.
The Agency should consider funding provinces to pursue targeted programs, not general public health, for greater accountability; and,
Federal government should also include funding to regional health authorities directly, not just to the provinces.

Participants also raised concerns about specific public health issues:

Among Alberta First Nations:
- Housing quality and crowding are two critical public health issues in need of immediate attention;
- Parents on reserve need better education about nutrition;
- Mental health is the biggest issue for many communities; and,
- Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders is also a critical issue - especially since on- and off-reserve schools do not provide facilities for affected children.

Needs freedom to speak out on unpopular issues; and,
Needs to keep a profile for public health when there is no public health emergency.


	Last Updated: 2004-09-01		Important Notices