Readout of HHS Secretary Becerra’s Bilateral Meeting with the Canadian Minister of Health

Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra spoke today with the new Minister of Health of Canada, Dr. Jean-Yves Duclos. Joined by Assistant Secretary for Global Affairs, Loyce Pace and the Office of Global Affairs’ Director of the Americas Region, Nelson Arboleda, the Secretary congratulated Minister Duclos on his recent appointment and conveyed his appreciation on behalf of the United States government to Canada for the longstanding and collaborative health partnership between the two countries.  Canada receives one of the highest levels of international biomedical research funding from the National Institutes of Health.

Secretary Becerra and Minister Duclos expressed the importance of continued and sustained partnership among the U.S. and Canada, and discussed specific areas of interest including working closely together in bilateral, regional, and global fora to combat the pandemic, strengthening global health security, combatting opioid abuse, and making progress on global climate change targets.  The Secretary thanked the Minister for Canada’s transparent and swift sharing of information related to the pandemic.  They both also acknowledged the work of their respective teams in the ongoing virtual U.S.-Canada health dialogue taking place on January 13-14, and affirmed their support for joint outcomes of that dialogue.