“ The NAO will enable comparisons and assemble information in a useful format for governments to make evidence-informed policy decisions.” — Professor Greg Marchildon
in the midst of a really serious drought.” Kuwa Tayari brought together 121 participants from 26 institutions in Kenya, Uganda, Canada, the United States and elsewhere. DLSPH presenters included Professors Daniel Sellen, Lisa Forman and Andrea Cortinois. The conference’s top recommendation was to implement a rights-based approach to food security, health and achieving the sustainable development goals. It was also recognized that public health curricula need revision to incorporate climate change. In response, Braitstein piloted a planetary health course at DLSPH, and has put together related collaborative research proposals, including one proposal to use climate-smart agriculture to improve women’s and children’s nutrition. Meanwhile, Moi University is working toward the establishment of a certificate program in climate change and public health. “We have a number of grant applications and papers in the works,” Braitstein said. “This climate change issue has legs; the younger generation gets it and they care.”
Inspired by the structure and mission of the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, a special operating agency of the World Health Organization’s Regional Office for Europe, the NAO will focus on state and provincial health systems in North America to create a foundation for more systematic health system and policy comparisons among subnational states. “The NAO will enable comparisons and assemble information in a useful format for governments to make evidence-informed policy decisions,” said Marchildon, who holds an Ontario Research Chair in Health Policy and System Design at IHPME. This is the first such entity for North America, and Marchildon plans to expand the NAO by creating academic hubs in the United States and Mexico, and eventually Central America and the Caribbean.
U of T Home to First North American Academic Hub for Health System Comparison
Professor Paula Braitstein with Professor Miriam Were, Chancellor of Moi University
The North American Observatory on Health Systems and Policies (NAO) launched the first academic hub at IHPME in February 2017. “U of T is the natural home for the NAO because we have the largest and most productive group of scholars who are trained to create and use evidence to design, implement and evaluate health policy,” said Professor Adalsteinn Brown, Director of IHPME. NAO’s founding director, Professor Greg Marchildon, explained that Canada has one of the more decentralized health system models in the world — though the United States and Mexico have recently become more decentralized — with provincial and territorial governments administering and financing health services.
JCB Plays National Leadership Role in Medical Assistance in Dying Legislation
The Joint Centre for Bioethics (JCB) is contributing to the evolution of medical assistance in dying (MAID) policy and practice in Canada. Created in the wake of the landmark Carter decision, the JCB is home to a province-wide 17
Annual Report 2016-17