Backgrounder on funded projects

[ Press Release 2011-25 ]

Important funding announcement to improve health equity in Canada and around the world – August 30, 2011

The Honourable Leona Aglukkaq announced $21.3 million to support 11 new studies on population and public health equity. All research projects underwent a rigorous and competitive peer review process and were selected according to international standards of scientific excellence.

This funding will enable researchers to:

• Determine which programs and policies improved overall outcomes and narrowed or widened the gap in inequity of Manitoba's children, Dr. Patricia Martens, University of Manitoba;
• Develop, implement and evaluate HIV prevention interventions and sexual and reproductive health promotion activities with female sex workers in Benin, Dr. Michel Alary, Université Laval;
• Generate new evidence about how to improve health equity for people whose lives and health are affected by poverty, social exclusion, and discrimination; Dr. Annette Browne, University of British Columbia;
• Determine how policies aimed at reducing poverty and gender inequality in high and low income countries impact major causes of illness and death in infants, children and women under 50; Dr. Sally Heymann, McGill University;
• Generate new knowledge and action related to addressing inequities through examination of selected core public health programs in British Columbia, Dr. Bernadette Pauly, University of Victoria;
• Produce evidence and host a knowledge translation forum about the effects of public health interventions aimed at reducing social health inequities, Dr. Louise Potvin, Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal;
• Evaluate community interventions potentially favorable to health equity in Burkina Faso through a demographic surveillance system, Dr. Valery Riddle, Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal;
• Develop policies and programs that protect health by connecting people involved in the production and consumption of food with decision-makers in Ecuador and Canada, Dr. Jerry Spiegel, University of British-Columbia;
• Identify viable policy interventions to reduce household food insecurity in Canada, Dr. Valerie Tarasuk, University of Toronto;
• Investigate the ethical foundations of population health interventions to address the social determinants of health, Dr. Daniel Weinstock, Université de Montréal; and,
• Address research gaps and promote health equity by tackling the needs of health workers in low and middle income countries, Dr. Annalee Yassi, University of British-Columbia.