Health Canada

Health Canada
Santé Canada
Department overview
Formed 1996
Type Department responsible for national public health
Jurisdiction Canada
Employees 12,000[1]
Minister responsible
Website www.hc-sc.gc.ca

Health Canada (French: Santé Canada) is the department of the government of Canada with responsibility for national public health. The current Minister of Health is Ginette Petitpas Taylor, a Liberal Member of Parliament appointed to the position by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Branches, regions and agencies

Health Canada has the following branches, regions and agencies:[2]

Ministers and officers

Branches

  • Audit & Accountability Bureau
  • Chief Financial Officer Branch
  • Communications and Public Affairs Branch
  • Corporate Services Branch
  • Departmental Secretariat
  • First Nations & Inuit Health Branch
  • Healthy Environments & Consumer Safety Branch
  • Health Products & Food Branch
  • Legal Services
  • Regulatory Operations and Regions Branch
  • Strategic Policy Branch

Agencies

Offices

Laboratories

  • Laboratory Centre for Disease Control
  • Sir Frederick G Banting Research Centre

Compliance and Enforcement

The Compliance and Enforcement Directorate supports Health Canada's mission to help Canadians maintain and improve their health by enforcing the laws and regulations related to the production, distribution, importation, sale and/or use of consumer products, tobacco, pest control products, drugs, biologics, medical devices and natural health products.

The Directorate conducts inspections and investigations to ensure products are safe, of good quality, and properly labelled and distributed, in order to better protect Canadians from potentially harmful products and consumables.

Compliance and Enforcement Directorate is divided into six distinct programs:

  • Canada Vigilance Program
  • Controlled Substances Program
  • Inspectorate Program
  • Pesticide Control Program
  • Product Safety Program
  • Tobacco Control Program

[5]

International collaboration

In December 2016, Health Canada approved the purchase of a new botulism antitoxin called Botulism Antitoxin Heptavalent (BAT) from the American-based company Emergent Biosolutions, a global specialty biopharmaceutical company. The Public Health Agency of Canada has identified botulism as a likely biological terrorist threat.[6]

Acts for which Health Canada has Total or Partial Responsibility[7]

Acts for which Health Canada is Involved or has a Special Interest

Criticisms

An editorial published by the Canadian Medical Association Journal has called for Health Canada to more strictly regulate natural health products. The editorial cited weaknesses in current legislation that allow natural health products to make baseless health claims, to neglect side-effects research prior to products reaching market, and to be sold without being evaluated by Health Canada.[8]

On 10 September 2012, a report on CBC television questioned the safety of drugs sold in North America.[9] The Brandon Sun reported that Health Canada is secretive about inspections about drugs manufactured overseas, leaving the public unsure about the safety of these drugs.[10]

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/ahc-asc/activit/career-carriere/questions-eng.php#q10 Archived 2009-02-07 at the Wayback Machine.
  2. ↑ Canada, Health. "Branches and Agencies - Canada.ca". www.hc-sc.gc.ca. Archived from the original on 2010-10-16.
  3. ↑ Canada, Health. "Deputy Minister of Health Canada - Simon Kennedy - Canada.ca". www.hc-sc.gc.ca. Archived from the original on 2010-02-18.
  4. ↑ Canada, Health. "Associate Deputy Minister of Health Canada - Christine Donoghue - Canada.ca". www.hc-sc.gc.ca. Archived from the original on 2010-10-31.
  5. ↑ http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/ahc-asc/branch-dirgen/rapb-dgrp/reg/on-eng.php#a5 Archived 2013-10-29 at the Wayback Machine.
  6. ↑ "Emergent BioSolutions Receives Health Canada Approval for Botulism Antitoxin". Yahoo Finance. 2016-12-12. Archived from the original on 2017-01-13. Retrieved 2017-01-11.
  7. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2007-05-19. Retrieved 2007-04-15.
  8. ↑ Gauntlet Editorial Board. "Editorial: Mis-informed consent". Editorial. The Gauntlet. Archived from the original on 7 March 2012. Retrieved 18 December 2011.
  9. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-03-29. Retrieved 2012-09-11. Americamp=rss
  10. ↑ http://www.brandonsun.com/national/breaking-news/health-canada-mum-on-overseas-drug-manufacturing-plant-inspections-researcher-169185796.html?thx=y
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