How Do We Make our Society Healthier?

Dr. M. Mustafa Hirji
Acting Medical Officer of Health for Niagara region

Dr. Hirji was appointed to his position in January 2018. In this capacity he is responsible for protecting the health of Niagara’s 450,000 residents and 15 million visitors through Public Health programs such as vaccination, stopping outbreaks, preventing chronic diseases, health inspections, enabling children to get the best start to life, as well as Land Ambulance and ambulance dispatch services, and emergency planning. Dr. Hirji has a particular focus on the social determinants of health—the socioeconomic conditions in which people live, which determines half of health outcomes.

Our health outcomes are primarily driven by the socioeconomic and environmental conditions in which we live, and only secondarily by the health care we receive, or the genetics with which we are born. Dr. Hirji will explain how a focus on improving these conditions in our society will enable us to become a more healthy, more equal, and more prosperous society, with a more financially sustainable health care system.

Dr. Hirji holds an MD from the University of Calgary and a Masters of Public Health in Epidemiology from the University of Toronto. He completed specialty training through McMaster University, earning a specialty certificate in Public Health & Preventive Medicine from the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. Dr. Hirji also holds undergraduate degrees in Engineering Physics and Political Sciences (Honours), both from the University of Alberta.