The Canadian Conference on Global Health is an annual conference that brings together researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and students from various disciplines and sectors to discuss pressing global health issues. The conference provides a platform for sharing knowledge, best practices, and innovations in global health research, policy, and practice.
The 2024 Canadian Conference on Global Health will be held in person from October 25 to 27, 2024 at the Simon Fraser University, downtown Vancouver campus, BC, Canada, and virtually.
2024 Conference Theme
Poly-crisis and global health: How can we improve human health and equity while protecting the planet?
The quarter of a century from 1990 to 2015 saw remarkable and unprecedented gains in global health. Progress was, however, uneven, with the poorest countries not making sufficient progress. The 17 Sustainable Development Goals were adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015, sparked more optimism for accelerated and equitable progress across human development indicators, including the global health and planetary ones, in the global north and south indiscriminately.
In recent years, the world has experienced a series of economic, social, geopolitical, and environmental shocks that have impacted our development, well-being, and collective future. In Canada, we have seen inequities being exacerbated by concomitant crises affecting our health, education, housing, and ecological systems. The current global context is particularly challenging: the COVID-19 pandemic added an additional source of complexity; increasing state-sponsored violence over the past three years, such as in Artsakh, Ethiopia, Gaza, Sudan, and Ukraine, has also raised concern among humanitarian health communities due to its multi-layered impact on civilian populations as well as the growing impunity of the state perpetrators of this violence. It is estimated that a combination of these shocks will result in 2.1 billion people living in fragile or extremely fragile countries by 2030.
This combination of events, the COVID-19 pandemic, extreme climatic events, degradation of food and land systems, global instability precipitated by war and conflict, high energy prices, and inflation, have stalled, and even reversed progress. This has been termed as “poly-crisis”, an interconnected web of simultaneous adversities manifesting interdependently in a globalized world. Through complex and interrelated pathways, these critical events impact our health and well-being, and our planet.
For the Canadian Conference on Global Health (CCGH) 2024, we are inviting researchers, practitioners, policymakers, advocates, students, and others within the global health community, as well as from other fields and those with lived experiences, to exchange learnings and ideas from research and practice on how this multifaceted challenge could be addressed to improve human and planetary health outcomes from a global public health perspective. CCGH has a strong history and track record of welcoming colleagues from outside of Canada.
Sub-themes
The purpose of CCGH 2024 is to address the drivers and immediate impacts of poly-crisis and lay the foundation for more equitable, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable global health ecosystems. In particular, equity, social justice, community engagement, proactive involvement of population groups in situations of vulnerability and marginalisation, and authentic partnerships between researchers and practitioners from the global south and global north will be emphasized.
Sub-theme 1: Unpacking the drivers of poly-crisis
Objective: To critically examine the structural factors such as politics, policy, governance, leadership, accountability, and power dynamics and structures that drive the poly-crisis. We are concerned with unpacking drivers at various levels (e.g., global, national, subnational).
Examples of topics (not exhaustive):
- Political economy: “Political economy focuses on power and resources, how they are distributed and contested in different country and sector contexts, and the resulting implications for development outcomes.” Analyzing how historical, political, and socioeconomic factors intersect and exacerbate health inequities and crises.
- Governance, leadership, and accountability: Strengthening governance structures and accountability and leadership mechanisms to ensure responsive, transparent, inclusive, and equitable health systems; lessons learned and evidence-informed best practices to move toward transformative health outcomes
- Power dynamics and structures and empowerment: Distributing power and resources more equitably at global, national, and local levels, with a particular emphasis on pathways for community empowerment, particularly populations in situations of economic and political vulnerability or marginalization, enabling the engagement of diverse perspectives in the development of policy and interventions.
Sub-theme 2: Mitigating and adapting to the impacts of poly-crisis
Objective: To explore innovative mechanisms and adaptive strategies to effectively reduce the impacts of simultaneous and intersecting crises while committing to evidence-informed interventions and enhancing resilience against poly-crisis.
Examples of topics (not exhaustive):
- Evidence-informed policymaking: Strengthening the linkages between research and policy to ensure that interventions are grounded in scientific evidence and community-based knowledge, thereby enhancing effectiveness and sustainability.
- Governance-related innovations: Promoting and implementing strategies to strengthen inclusive, equitable, and transparent governance mechanisms and systems, grounded in accountability, leadership, data-driven, and participatory decision-making; intersectoral collaboration; and health equity impact assessments.
- Innovation in health financing for health system strengthening: Exploring sustainable financing models such as impact investing, blended finance, global health bonds, and fiscal and taxation systems that can mobilize resources efficiently to address crises in a sustainable manner at the national level, with a focus on locally-generated innovations and lessons learned.
- Technological innovations: Harnessing the power of artificial intelligence, big data, e-health, and m-health, including digital surveillance systems, to predict, monitor, and mitigate the effects of crises on health systems, especially in the global south, while capitalizing on local existing systems, including digital platforms.
Call for abstracts
The call for abstracts for the Canadian Conference on Global Health (CCGH) 2024 is now open! We invite researchers, practitioners, policymakers, advocates, students, and others within the global health community to submit their abstracts and share their insights on this year's theme, "Poly-crisis and Global Health: How Can We Improve Human Health and Equity While Protecting the Planet?".
Please click here to submit your abstract.
Abstract Timelines
- Submission Deadline: August 2nd, 2024
- Outcome Notification Date: August 16th, 2024
Abstract Submission Guidelines
- Abstracts must be submitted online by the deadline date: 2 August at 23:59 Eastern Standard time.
- Only abstracts submitted in English and French will be considered.
- Abstracts must not be more than 350 words.
- The abstract should follow the structure: Issue/Objective, Methodology/Approach, Results, Discussion/Conclusions. If your abstract does not fit into this format, please choose appropriate headings.
- Please include a statement on the relevance to the conference sub-theme. This may be of direct relevance, or it may be as a contribution to methods that result in more robust evidence production.
- The abstract title should not be longer than 20 words.
- Abbreviated terms should be written in full the first time they are used.
- Tables and graphs can be submitted as an attached image document with your abstract. Allowed formats are: gif, png, jpg, jpeg, tif, tiff,; max. file size is 15 MB; max. size of one image is 1500px. Please remember to insert the reference (Table 1, Figure 1, etc.) in the abstract.
- All accepted abstracts will be copy-edited before being published.
- Do not include any personal data about specific individuals.
Acceptance and notification of abstracts
- Acceptance of abstracts into the conference programme will be determined by the scientific merit, relevance, readability, and clarity, and learning potential of the submitted work.
- If you have any questions about the relevance of your submission to the conference sub-themes, please contact us: conference@cagh-acsm.org .
Registration
All presenters of accepted abstracts are required to register and attend the conference. The organizers reserve the right to withdraw abstracts if presenters have not registered and fully paid for the 2024 Canadian Conference for Global Health 2024 by 30 August 2024.
Please click here to register for CCGH 2024 and to learn more about registering.
Program Fees
Program
TBA
Accommodations
Pinnacle Hotel Harbourfront (5min walk)
St. Regis Hotel Vancouver (6min walk)
EXchange Hotel Vancouver (5min walk)
L'Hermitage Hotel (9min walk)
Hotel Le Soleil by Executive Hotels (9min walk)
Victorian Hotel (5min walk)
Auberge Vancouver Hotel (5min walk)
Getting Here
The conference is taking place in and around the Segal Building on Simon Fraser University Vancouver campus.
Simon Fraser University
500 Granville Street
Vancouver, British Columbia V6C 1W6
Parking
Public parking is available at many locations near the Segal Building. Street parking is free after 10 p.m. The closest parking lot is at 400 West Cordova Street.
Public Transit
Major public transit lines, the SeaBus, SkyTrain and West Coast Express, terminate at Waterfront Station, located in the historic Canadian Pacific Railway Station on Cordova Street, opposite Simon Fraser University at Harbour Centre. Transit schedules can be found at www.translink.ca. The Segal Building is also within easy walking distance of all street buses with a terminus in downtown Vancouver.
Invitation letters
Invitation letters will be provided to attendees who indicate this need at registration or abstract review submission. Please note: Visa letters will only be granted to applicants who meet the following criteria:
- Live and work in an LMIC country (List of countries).
- Have already paid for a virtual ticket to attend the conference.
- Have a letter of support to attend CCGH from university, public health institute, CSO or similar organization.
- Have submitted an abstract or are participating in the conference as a speaker or invited guest.
- Applicants not presenting are also encouraged to apply but letters are not guaranteed.
Please register for a virtual ticket and a link will be sent for you to provide additional information.