Surendranagar-Born public health expert Dr Chandrakant Shah honoured with Order of Canada

Ahmedabad: In a remarkable achievement, Dr Chandrakant Shah, a 89-year-old Surendranagar-born public health expert, researcher and Canada-based doctor, has been selected for one of Canada’s highest civilian honours, the Order of Canada, for his lifelong contributions to public health and healthcare education.

Dr Shah has been appointed as Officer of the Order of Canada, as announced by the Governor General’s office. The list of awardees was released by Mary Simon, Governor General of Canada.

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As per the TOI news report, the appointment places Dr Shah among an elite group of 80 recipients across three tiers of recognition: companion (CC), officer (OC), and member (MC). His officer-level designation acknowledges contributions that have shaped national policy and institutional frameworks.

Dr Chandrakant Shah is a Canadian doctor, researcher and social activist whose career spans over six decades. He is widely known for his work with Indigenous communities and other socially marginalised groups in Canada.

Dr Shah was the clinical coordinator of Anishnawbe Health Toronto in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and was a staff physician from 1996 to 2016, providing primary health care to Toronto's indigenous community as well as people who have been marginalised, such as the homeless, the unemployed and children living in poverty.

He served as a Special Advisor to the Assistant Deputy Minister of the Indigenous Health Services Branch, Health Canada, from 2007 - 2008. He was also a consultant with Peel Public Health, Honorary Staff of The Hospital for Sick Children, and Courtesy Staff at St. Michael's Hospital (Toronto). He is Professor Emeritus of the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Board Member of Anishnawbe Health Foundation and Hon. Consulting Physician, Anishnawbe Health, Toronto.

Born in Surendragar's Limbdi in April 1936, Dr Shah graduated from BJ Medical College, Ahmedabad, in 1961 before moving to the US and eventually settling in Canada. He pursued advanced studies at the University of Toronto and Harvard University, specialising in public health.

His textbook, now in its 6th edition, Public Health and Preventive Medicine in Canada, is widely used by Canadian undergraduate and graduate students from a range of health disciplines. He is a recipient of several awards, including the Order of Ontario and the Outstanding Physicians of Ontario award (2007) by the Council of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario for excellence and coming closest to meeting society's vision of an "ideal physician."

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