Health surveillance

One of the series of Mythbusters information sheets that examines drug safety issues. Discusses the safety of pharmaceutical drugs after they have been approved and how drug approval does not necessarily mean a drug is fully tested or that it's effects are fully understood. Points to the need for consumers to thoroughly understand the potential benefits and harms of any drug so that they make make informed decisions about drugs they may take. Approves of the establishment of the federally-funded Drug Safety and Effectiveness Network, which will fund research on the safety and effectiveness of drugs in the “real world”.

Mythbusters is a series of two-page articles that summarize the best available evidence to challenge widely held beliefs about issues in Canadian healthcare.

Examines the differences in health between rural and urban Canadians. Explores the disadvantages and disparities facing rural communities.

Describes an approach to understanding girls' and women's health and provides background information to promote the development of initiatives to integrate girls' and women's health into research, policy and clinical care.

Looks at the association between ethnicity and migration and self-perceived health and self-reports of chronic conditions. (From Women's Health Surveillance Report: A Multidimensional Look at the Health of Canadian Women)

Provides an overview of health care utilization by Canadian women and focuses on access to care and patterns of utilization. (From Women's Health Surveillance Report: A Multidimensional Look at the Health of Canadian Women)

Looks at socio-economic determinants of health and self-perceived health and self-reports of chronic conditions. (From Women's Health Surveillance Report: A Multidimensional Look at the Health of Canadian Women)

Presents examples of possible indicators for assessing women's health in a gender relevant way. (From Women's Health Surveillance Report: A Multidimensional Look at the Health of Canadian Women)

Looks at the extent that social roles and other risk factors are associated with medication use (prescription and over-the-counter use). (From Women's Health Surveillence Report: A Multidimensional Look at the Health of Canadian Women)

Presents key messages with respect to quality of life, health of Canadian women across the life cycle, and health of more vulnerable women. (From Women's Health Surveillance Report: A Multidimensional Look at the Health of Canadian Women)

Underlines the need for a policy framework for women's health surveillance in Canada and points to some elements that such a framework might include. (From Women's Health Surveillance Report: A Multidimensional Look at the Health of Canadian Women)