Health
Dr. Norman Bethune
Canada and China have had a long-standing cooperative relationship in the field of health since the days of Dr. Norman Bethune. The reiteration of health as one of the four pillars for strategic cooperation in the December 2009 Canada-China Joint Statement, on the occasion of Prime Minister Harper’s visit to China, provided further impetus to collaborative work in this area.
In 1995, the health ministers of Canada and China signed a Memorandum of Understanding for cooperation in the field of health between the two countries. This has since been reinforced by four Plans of Actions (for the periods 2001-2004, 2005-2008, 2009-2011, and 2011-2014) signed by health ministers. A Canada-China Joint Committee on Health was established in 2007, and has been meeting annually since 2008 to establish annual collaborative workplans and to monitor progress.
The current (2011-2014) Plan of Action focuses cooperative work on the following priority areas of mutual interest: food safety; drugs and medical product safety; e-Health and tele-health; infectious disease prevention and control; chronic disease prevention and control; response to health emergencies; and health systems strengthening, planning, development and capacity-building.
Numerous collaborative projects and activities have been conducted over the years under the Plans of Action, including: cooperation during the 2009 H1N1 pandemic; cooperation in infectious disease surveillance, control and laboratories; seminars/workshops on emerging infectious disease and chronic disease prevention and control; high level meetings and workshops on drugs and medical products, food, and consumer product safety; health human resource exchanges and trainings; a project on health policy evaluation; joint health research funding, projects and scholarships; and professional exchanges and workshops in health systems, public health, health promotion, chronic disease prevention and control, laboratories, hospital system and management. These vast cooperations have been effected between many different sectors/ partners in our two countries – federal/central government, provincial and local governments, universities, hospitals, research institutions and private enterprises; and demonstrated both the breadth and depth of the health collaborations between our two nations.
2nd Canada-China Health Policy Dialogue, Shanghai, September 2010
Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq hosted the Chinese Minister of Health, Dr. Chen Zhu, and a delegation of Chinese officials at the first Canada-China Health Policy Dialogue held in Ottawa in June 18-20, 2009. During the Dialogue, the health ministers had productive discussions on a range of health issues, including health care systems, primary health care, emerging infectious diseases, and food safety.
On September 8-9, 2010, Minister Aglukkaq led a Canadian delegation in the second Canada-China Policy Dialogue on Health hosted by the Chinese Health Minister Chen Zhu in Shanghai. The ongoing dialogue involved discussions on a spectrum of health matters, including strategies to prevent chronic diseases and emerging and re-emerging infectious disease, hospital financing and health research. The 3rd Canada-China Joint Committee on Health meeting was also held in Shanghai, Sept. 8, 2010.
On September 10, 2010, Minister Aglukkaq signed a Letter of Intent with Vice Minister Pu of the Chinese General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) in Beijing, re-affirming both countries’ commitment to cooperate on issues related to consumer product safety.
Minister of Health, Leona Aglukkaq, meeting with AQSIQ's
Vice-Minister Mr. PU Changcheng and signing of letter of intent
Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer, Dr. David Butler-Jones, met with the Director General of Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Wang Yu, in Beijing on September 11, 2010, and discussed various collaborative initiatives in public health between the two countries.
Chief Public Health Officer and Chinese CDC Director General Meeting, Beijing, Sept. 11, 2011
In March 2011, the Canadian Embassy conducted a “Hypertension and Stroke Prevention and Control – A Canadian Success Story” that was well attended by leading Chinese experts and stakeholders in this area. Later in the month was a Canada-Hangzhou Health Roundtable with the Hangzhou Municipal Health Bureau, and Canadian experts’ participation at the “International Experience Sharing for Public Hospital Reform" seminar in Wuhan.
Ambassador David Mulroney and WHO China Representative
Dr. Micheal O’Leary at the “Hypertension and Stroke Prevention
and Control” workshop with participants
The 3rd Canada-China Health Policy Dialogue was held in Toronto on September 27, 2011, with a focus on rural health. Minister Aglukkaq and Minister Chen Zhu had very productive discussions on various important issues, including rural health financing, e-Health and rural health human resources. The Dialogue was followed by the 4th Canada-China Joint Committee on Health meeting, at which Canada-China cooperative activities for the last year were reviewed and the work plan for the coming year was formulated.
In Jan. 2012, the Canadian Consulate General in Guangzhou held two health roundtables in Guangdong (Guangzhou) and Hunan (Changsha), respectively. These roundtables have facilitated health discussions and cooperations between Canada and China’s provincial health departments, centers for disease control, universities and hospitals.
Minister of Health, Leona Aglukkaq and China’s Minister of Health Dr. Chen Zhu signing “Plan of Action on Cooperation in the Field of Health for the Period 2011-2014” at 3rd CCPD in Toronto
For additional information, see:
- Plan of Action on Cooperation between Canada and People’s Republic of China in the field of health for the period 2011-2014: http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/ahc-asc/intactiv/agree-accord/chin-coop-eng.php
- CIHR and the National Natural Science Foundation of China-China-Canada Joint Health Research Initiative http://www.cihr-irsc.gc.ca/e/42994.html
- Healthy China 2020: Policy and Technology Evaluation Project
- Public Health Agency of Canada http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/index-eng.php
- Health Canada http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/
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