Primary Prevention
April 2012 marks the beginning of the Partnership’s second five-year mandate and the next phase of implementing Canada’s national cancer strategy. The priorities and initiatives for the next five years are outlined in our 2012-2017 strategic plan, Sustaining Action Toward a Shared Vision. Our website will soon be updated to reflect the activities supporting the strategic plan. The information below reflects the priorities and accomplishments of our work between 2007 and 2012.
Building a cornerstone of cancer control
Cancer and other chronic diseases account for 89 per cent of all deaths in Canada.1 The risks for many chronic diseases can be reduced through healthier lifestyles and healthier communities. Maintaining a healthy body weight, quitting smoking, limiting sun exposure and improving the quality of our natural and built environments can all help reduce the risk of developing cancer and other major chronic diseases such as diabetes lung disease and heart disease.
The primary prevention of cancer and chronic diseases includes having policies and programs in place that enable people to make healthier choices, which in turn can reduce risk of disease.
The Partnership is using evidence to inform such policies and practices to improve public awareness, increase the use of evidence-based prevention policies and practices, foster co-operation among partners, and maximize the results of our collective efforts.
Initiatives
The Partnership is currently supporting four major strategic initiatives in primary prevention. These collaborative projects seek to understand and address risk factors and are strengthening the foundation of efforts to prevent cancer and other chronic diseases. They include:
- Coalitions Linking Action and Science for Prevention (CLASP)
- The CAPTURE (Canadian Platform to Increase Usage of Real-world Evidence) initiative
- Monitoring environmental and occupational exposures through:
- The Healthy Public Policy initiative
1 “Chronic Diseases and their Control.” WHO press release 59. Geneva: World Health Organization, 2006. http://whqlibdoc.who.int/press_release/2006/PR_59.pdf.
