Moving Forward from the COVID-19 Pandemic: 10 Opportunities for Strengthening Canada’s Public Health Systems
Section 4: Conclusion

Section 4: Conclusion

When Canada’s public health systems emerge from the COVID-19 crisis, they will face the daunting task of reckoning with the strengths and weaknesses of the pandemic response and translating the resulting lessons into the institutional changes necessary to address enduring public health challenges. The series of dialogues that is summarized above revealed a diversity of perspectives on these issues within the public health community, as well as important areas of convergence. The dialogues also highlighted the momentum and desire that exists to change governance, practice, research, and training systems in the wake of an unprecedented global crisis and in anticipation of continuing threats to the health of our communities, country, and planet.

Although the COVID-19 pandemic provided a focal point for the dialogues, time and again the conversation centred on the longstanding challenges that worsened the crisis and complicated the response – including underlying inequities and systemic discrimination, a lack of adequate data and surge capacity, and chronic funding shortfalls for public health. Participants were also clear that the pandemic is but one stressor on a system that faces continuing challenges to address mental health, non-communicable diseases, the opioid crisis, and global climate change, among other threats.

At the same time, the overall tone of the dialogues was one of cautious optimism. Participants recognized the opportunities that exist in an era of unprecedented attention to public health, rapid technological innovation, greater awareness of institutionalized racism, colonialism, and inequities, and growing public engagement in this sector. The actionable ideas that they outlined can provide a starting point for thinking about the key areas of investment and rebuilding required for a robust and resilient system and an equitable distribution of health.

Evidence is lacking when it comes to informing how to best build, resource and structure Canadian public health systems. Undertaking action on the 10 key opportunities outlined in section 3 should be informed by research that seeks to understand and improve Canada’s public health systems so that we are better prepared for the challenges ahead.

We hope that this document will prove useful for those working in and beyond public health governance, practice, research, and training as the community discusses ways to leverage the lessons of the pandemic and the novelty of the current context towards systemic change. This document distills a range of ideas for moving forward based on the collective experience and creativity of a sector that cares deeply about its mandate, workforce, partners, and public. There has perhaps never been a more urgent time to absorb and act on what we heard from them.

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