Canadian Health Network Loses Funding

The Canadian Health Network (http://www.canadian-health-network.ca) (CHN), Canada's leading web-based source for health information by Canadians, is the latest national program to be slated for closure by the Harper Government. Announced today to CHN affiliates, the program will no longer be funded at the end of March 2008.

The Canadian Health Network is a national, bilingual web-portal that aims to help Canadians find the information they're looking for on how to stay healthy and prevent disease. The CHN does this through a unique and extensive collaboration between the Public Health Agency of Canada (http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/new_e.html), 26 major health organizations, universities, hospitals, and libraries. CHN offers links to more than 20,000 English and French Canadian web-based, quality-assessed resources; in-depth information on 25 key health topics and population groups; and a fortnightly e-newsletter. It is used currently by approximately 381,000 people per month. Usage has grown steadily since it was created in 1999, and especially rapidly in 2007, increasing by 70 per cent over 2006. Approximately 40 per cent of CHN visitors are health professionals who use CHN resources both personally and with clients; Francophones visit CHN in higher proportions than comparable sites; and 94 per cent of users recommend the site to others. Eighty per cent of the 15 million Canadians on-line use the Internet to seek health information. Add to this, the fact that CHN costs are decreasing, making the portal more cost efficient over-time. Why then would government choose to cut this program exactly when the Federal Government is experiencing a surplus?

The Ontario Prevention Clearinghouse (http://www.opc.on.ca) and the Centre for Health Promotion (http://www.utoronto.ca/chp/) at the University of Toronto - who jointly are CHN's Health Promotion Affiliate - are dismayed by this move. In coming days, we anticipate that CHN affiliates will mount arguments to oppose this cut and ask for your help. Please stay tuned.

Connie Clement, Executive Director, OPC
Suzanne Jackson, Director, Centre for Health Promotion, University of Toronto