Today, the co-chairs of the federal, provincial, and territorial Special Advisory Committee on Toxic Drug Poisonings—Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada's Chief Public Health Officer, and Dr. Sudit Ranade, Yukon’s Chief Medical Officer of Health—issued the following statement on the release of the latest surveillance data on opioid and stimulant-related harms in Canada for the period of January to March 2024. While it is too early to draw conclusions on trends this year, the latest data shows that the number of opioid-related deaths, hospitalizations and EMS responses in the first quarter of 2024 was lower than the same period in 2023.
Today, we come together to recognize Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) Awareness Day and Month. For 25 years, September 9 has been dedicated to raising awareness about this critical issue that affects individuals and families across Canada in far-reaching ways. This date, the nineth day of the nineth month, honours the nine months of pregnancy.
The Intersectoral Action Fund (ISAF) is the first Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) program explicitly dedicated to support collective action across sectors on the social determinants of health to reduce health inequities. This grant program seeks to strengthen capacity and build knowledge and tools to enable partners to work together across sectors to advance action on the social determinants of health. The program prioritizes funding upstream projects, or projects that are addressing the root causes of ill health and health inequities.
The Honourable Mark Holland, Minister of Health, announced an investment of over $3.2 million through the Intersectoral Action Fund (ISAF) for 16 additional projects (link to backgrounder) based in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. These projects aim to improve health conditions and the systems and structures that shape them, helping everyone in Canada reach their full health potential.
The Honourable Mark Holland, Minister of Health, announces an investment of $6,621,475 through the Enhanced Surveillance for Chronic Disease Program to seven organizations who will carry out projects that increase our ability to gather health-related data and collect missing data needed to expand our knowledge in the areas of substance related harms, including opioids, mental health and mental illness, and longer-term impacts of COVID-19 including post-COVID condition and chronic disease. This backgrounder supports the news release entitled "Government of Canada invests in initiatives to address public health evidence gaps".
The Honourable Mark Holland, Minister of Health, announces an investment of $6,621,475 through the Enhanced Surveillance for Chronic Disease Program to seven organizations who will carry out projects that increase our ability to gather health-related data and collect missing data needed to expand our knowledge in the areas of substance related harms, including opioids, mental health and mental illness, and longer-term impacts of COVID-19 including post-COVID condition and chronic disease.
Minister Holland announces more than $7.6 million for 31 community-led projects to help increase vaccine confidence and uptake among underserved communities across Canada.
The Government of Canada is closely monitoring the mpox situation in the DRC and neighbouring countries, and is working with domestic and international partners to determine opportunities for support. There have been no cases of mpox caused by the clade I mpox virus (MPXV) to date in Canada.
Today, on World Hepatitis Day, I would like to raise awareness about the importance of vaccination, testing and treatment to end viral hepatitis as a public health concern in Canada.
