In today’s blog we will be talking about Canada and how they are implementing the 2030 sustainable developmental goal agenda. Canada is dedicated to implementing all of the SDG’s because they believe that in order for there to be progress each one must be addressed.
Their agenda consists of a national strategy which involves working closely with all levels of the government, indigenous people, civil society and the private sector. They would like to reach out to everyone to make sure no one is left behind as well as insure their well-being. Health is something they would really like to improve in Canada. Ideally, they would like everyone to have the right to enjoy their health (mentally and physically) to the fullest. To start, they would like to address children’s health. Children are some of the individuals who are most vulnerable to different illnesses which is why they have created surveillance programs that will focus on different illnesses such as “congenital abnormalities, rare and emerging pediatric diseases, childhood cancers, injuries.” (International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2017). Other health concerns they have is chronic diseases such as cancer, chronic respiratory diseases and diabetes. It estimated that 65% of the population die from these types of diseases, therefore they have produced interventions to prevent chronic diseases. This has led them to look at common factors that lead to these chronic diseases which are “unhealthy eating, physical inactivity, tobacco, drug and alcohol use.”(International Institute for sustainable Development, 2017). They have come up with a strategy called Canada’s Healthy Eating Strategy to overcome this issue which includes banning certain items that have hydrogenated oils, regulating certain foods that are unhealthy and making sure that labels are present in front of the package to make people aware of what they are putting in their bodies. HIV, mental health, sexual and reproductive rights are targets they are also trying to improve. Another item they have addressed is the indigenous people that live in Canada. Canada would genuinely like to offer their help and any other type of resources to the indigenous people to make sure that they are also being looked after; because of this the prime minister of Canada has created a new Department of Indigenous Services Canada (ISC). With this they hope to increase their health outcomes by providing services they may need.
Not only does Canada need resources to implement the agenda but they will also need some type of funding. It did not specify how much they intend to spend, but the report did say how much they have already funded to different organizations in order to achieve these targets. They have committed over $520 million for vaccines. Which will provide vaccines for those who need it the most. They have donated another $240 million to the Global Financing Facility for Every Woman Every Child. This organization intends to look after women and reduce the rate of children mortality. They must take other initiatives to continue providing the best health possible for the population, for example climate change is definitely something that has an impact and is currently an issue. They plan of keeping track of these SDG's by also "allocating new funds to establish an SDG unit. Which will ensure effective 2030 agenda coordination across federal departments and agencies." (Sustainable Development Knowledge, 2018). Pollution is considered one of the leading factors that contributes to early deaths. Canada has teamed up with an Air Quality Management System, with this they intend to lower pollution as well as lower deaths and hopefully see an improvement. This is currently being addressed in the country and it is certainly a priority because any type of measures can definitely lower the risk of affecting people’s health.
Some of the highlights for SDG indicators include:
- chronic disease mortality rates have experienced a decreasing trend across most cities
- while suicide and self-inflicted injury mortality rates have increased across Canada, Canadian cities have seen an overall decline between 2001 to 2011
- Heavy drinking and rates in Halifax and Toronto decreased 2003 and 2014. (Sustainable Development, 2018).
Resources:
International Institute for Sustainable Development. (2017). Tracking the SDGs in Canadian Cities: SDG 3 [PDF file]. Retrieved from
Sustainable Development. (2018). Canada's Implementation of the 2030 agenda [PDF file]. Retrieved from
https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/20033CanadasVoluntaryNationalReviewENv6.pdf
Canada .:. Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform. (n.d.). Retrieved from
https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/memberstates/canada
Images:
Canada .:. Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform. (n.d.). Retrieved from
https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/memberstates/canada
Images:
Dawn, A. (2018) [Image of colorful Canada Map] Retrieved from
[Image of Prime Minister with Chief Perry Bellegarde] Retrieved from
Hello Litza,
ReplyDeleteThank you for all of the information about Canada and the ways they are implementing all of the SDG's while focusing on health. I really appreciate how Canada is working to help everyone and keeping in mind of the many children and the disease that cause them harm. Its very unsettling to read the statistics of how much of the population dies from the diseases due to no vaccines or lack of medicine to help with the diseases. It's wonderful to hear they are committing so much money to work towards getting enough vaccines for the people who need it most.
Hi Litza,
ReplyDeleteI think it is amazing that Canada is willing to take many different stakeholders into consideration while working towards achieving the sustainable development goals. I like how Canada is working towards healthy eating habits. We often times see chronic diseases causing major issues within the health realm, including increased costs. Healthy nutrition can increase the health of many people and it is vital for a higher quality of life and to live longer. I am also glad to see that they are being proactive with vaccinations throughout their country as well!