Hosted by
The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) – Corporate Data and Surveillance Branch (CDSB) and The National Collaborating Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCCID)
Date and time: Tuesday, September 26, 2023 | 1:00pm to 2:00pm ET / 12:00pm to 1:00pm CT
Language: The seminar will be in English.
Synopsis
Public health surveillance is the essential function of collecting, analyzing, and interpreting health-related data to identify and respond to public health threats, to track the health status of populations and the determinants of health, and to provide evidence for policies and programs. In Canada, public health surveillance is a shared responsibility across local, regional, provincial/territorial, and federal partners. However, gaps in surveillance infrastructure, expertise, and governance, have hindered coordinated responses to emergencies, including the COVID-19 pandemic.
There is a need to increase public health surveillance capacity and awareness of novel surveillance approaches to address existing gaps and to prepare for the future. The COVID-19 pandemic exposed long-standing challenges in the Canadian public health surveillance ecosystem, such as data sharing timeliness, integration, and quality, as well as workforce capacity and data infrastructure. A vision for high-functioning public health surveillance in Canada will help guide evidence-informed decision-making and align public health stakeholders across the country in their efforts to improve public health surveillance.
Resources
Learning Objectives
By the end of this seminar, participants will be able to:
- Understand the foundations of public health surveillance, including their importance in addressing public health threats and promoting population health and well-being.
- Describe current gaps and future opportunities for public health surveillance in Canada.
- Discuss how they can contribute to the development of a vision for public health surveillance in Canada.
Moderators
- Louis Wong, Acting Manager, Corporate Data and Surveillance Branch, Public Health Agency of Canada.
- Luisa Arroyave, Post-doctoral Fellow, National Collaborating Centre for Infectious Diseases.
Opening remarks
- Dr. Steven Hoffman, Vice-President, Corporate Data and Surveillance Branch, Public Health Agency of Canada.
Speakers
- Dr. David Buckeridge, Executive Scientific Director, Corporate Data and Surveillance Branch, Public Health Agency of Canada.
- Dr. Yoav Keynan, Scientific Lead, National Collaborating Centre for Infectious Diseases
Accreditation statement
Surveillance Advances is a self-approved group learning activity (Section 1) as defined by the Maintenance of Certification Program of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. Surveillance Advances is also approved by the Council of Professional Experience for professional development hours for members of the Canadian Institute of Public Health Inspectors.
Past Webinars
Surveillance Advances launched in September 2023 with a discussion about the foundational concepts of public health surveillance and the future opportunities that lie ahead. Subsequent seminars featured topics related to health inequalities (seminar 2), data science (seminar 3), maternal and newborn health (seminar 4), and injury surveillance (seminar 5). For a complete list of seminars and to view their recordings, please visit the Surveillance Advances webcasts page.