The Lalonde report is a 1974 report produced in Canada entitled A new perspective on the health of Canadians^[1]. It is considered the "first modern government document in the Western world to acknowledge that our emphasis upon a biomedical health care system is wrong, and that we need to look beyond the traditional health care (sick care) system if we wish to improve the health of the public"^[2].

In the report, Marc Lalonde, who was the Canadian Minister of National Health and Welfare, proposed a new "health field" concept^[1]. He noted that the "traditional or generally-accepted view of the health field is that the art or science of medicine has been the fount from which all improvements in health have flowed, and popular belief equates the level of health with the quality of medicine"^[1]. The new concept "envisage[d] that the health field can be broken up into four broad elements: HUMAN BIOLOGY, ENVIRONMENT, LIFESTYLE and HEALTH CARE ORGANIZATION"^[1]; that is, determinants of health existed outside of the health care system.

The report emphasized individuals' roles in changing their behaviors to improve their health^[3]. Another innovation of the report was that "it proposed that public health interventions should focus attention on that segment of the population with the highest level of risk exposure"^[4]. The report was also fundamental in identifying health inequalities.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] See also

• Alma-Ata declaration
• Health inequalities

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Full text of the Lalonde report at Health Canada

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