In an article from The Lancet (October 10 – October 16), Richard Horton discusses Canada’s G8 presidency in 2010 and urges Canadian policy makers to use this opportunity to “make a decisive impact on global health”.
For South Africa in 2010, it is the World Cup. For Canada, it is the G8—on Jan 1, 2010, Canada takes over the G8presidency. As the predicaments facing the world’s leading economies grow ever more complex, Canada’s global leadership has never been more keenly needed.Over the next 15 months, Canada has an opportunity to make a decisive impact on global health.
Horton urges Canada to commit to 5 dimensions of global health:
- Health systems. Canada must deepen and broaden G8 commitments to health-systems strengthening.
- Climate change. Health advocates in Canada need to press this point on their politicians as additional evidence for concerted action.
- Peace through health. As suffering escalates in zones of conflict such as Afghanistan, embedding health in political thinking is critical to promote peace and reconstruction.
- Indigenous health. With 400 million indigenous people living in disrupted, exploited, and marginalised circumstances today, Canada’s voice—as a country with an important indigenous population—has the potential to command respect and influence.
- Global evidence and ethics. As the birth place of evidence-based medicine, Canada’s health community should have a strong voice about the way health metrics are used to shape global health policies.
Attached is the full article.
