Healthier Societies Initiative

The Institute for Health and Social Policy is excited to launch the Healthier Societies Initiative, a major new program which will analyze health care costs and outcomes across OECD countries. The cross-faculty project was initiated through the leadership and generosity of McGill’s Chancellor, H. Arnold Steinberg, CM.

The five-year initiative will map the greatest successes and biggest problem areas in population health across the world’s leading economies – and then rigorously examine and learn from the differences to develop more affordable and effective health care delivery. A key aspect of this initiative will be the training of a new generation of leaders with the skills to translate research findings into policy change. In the future, it is hoped that another initiative can be funded to conduct similar research in the poorer countries of the world. 

Healthcare expenditures are rising unsustainably in Canada, the United States, and most leading economies. Simultaneously, there are growing gaps in meeting health care needs. Turning the current situation around will require health and social policies that effectively prevent illnesses and injuries, as well as efficient health care provision and financing systems to treat them. IHSP’s Healthier Societies Initiative will map the biggest problem areas and greatest successes in the world's leading economies, as well as rigorously examine and systematically learn from the differences among countries in terms of which are performing well and which are struggling. Components will include a comparative longitudinal analysis of health care costs and outcomes, as well as a systematic analysis of the approaches taken by different countries and provinces to address health care costs and quality.

To learn more about the rationale behind the Healthier Societies Initiative, please visit our background page.