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Ministry Long-Term Direction
- Last 4 years: created stable foundation and environment upon which to build
- Next 5-10 years: strategic investment in building sustainable health system
- Build a health system that supports British Columbians continuously throughout life span
Staying Healthy
- In an individual’s lifetime, support may be required across four domains:
- staying healthy
- getting better
- managing disease and disability
- coping with end-of-life
- Public health plays a key role in helping people stay healthy
The Ministry is currently working on a framework for staying healthy that:
- Complements illness care components of system
- Provides a system-wide approach to staying healthy
- Focuses on:
- public health renewal
- population health promotion
- prevention in primary care
- self-care
Key Public Health Initiatives
- Strategic investments in public health ($8M, $16M, $24M)
- ActNow BC
- Core Functions in Public Health
- Public Health Act
- Public Health & Immunization Trust Fund
- Screening Initiatives
- UBCM Community Health Promotion Fund
- Emergency Preparedness
- Pandemic Planning
- West Nile Virus
- Drinking Water
Now is an opportune time to work in public health
- There is momentum and support for public health initiatives at all levels of government
- The public is becoming engaged in these issues
- We can only be successful if we have strong, supportive partnerships between all stakeholders
- We need to continue to build effective alliances