British Columbia is the westernmost province of Canada. Situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, forests, lakes, mountains, inland deserts and grassy plains. British Columbia borders the province of Alberta to the east, the territories of Yukon and the Northwest Territories to the north, and the US states of Washington, Idaho and Montana to the south and Alaska to the northwest. With an estimated population of over 5.3 million as of 2023, it is Canada's third-most populous province. The capital of British Columbia is Victoria, while the province's largest city is Vancouver. Vancouver and its suburbs together make up the third-largest metropolitan area in Canada; with the 2021 census recording 2.6 million people in Metro Vancouver.
Surrey is a city in British Columbia, Canada. It is located south of the Fraser River on the Canada–United States border. It is a member municipality of the Metro Vancouver regional district and metropolitan area. Mainly a suburban city, Surrey is the province's second-largest by population after Vancouver and the third-largest by area after Abbotsford and Prince George. Seven neighbourhoods in Surrey are designated town centres: Cloverdale, Fleetwood, Guildford, Newton, South Surrey, and City Centre encompassed by Whalley.
William Nicholas Vander Zalm is a politician and entrepreneur in British Columbia, Canada. He was the 28th premier of British Columbia from 1986 to 1991.
Science World is a science centre run by a not-for-profit organization called ASTC Science World Society in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It is located at the end of False Creek and features many permanent interactive exhibits and displays, as well as areas with varying topics throughout the years.
George Chow is a Canadian politician. He was elected as a New Democratic Party Member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia in the 2017 provincial election, representing the riding of Vancouver-Fraserview, and served as the Minister of State for Trade from 2017 to 2022. He was previously a two-term Vancouver City Councillor who was elected as a member of the Vision Vancouver party in 2005 and 2008. Prior to being elected Chow worked at BC Hydro for over 30 years, where he worked part-time when he was a councillor.
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) is an agency of the European Union (EU) whose mission is to strengthen Europe's defences against infectious diseases. It covers a wide spectrum of activities, such as: surveillance, epidemic intelligence, response, scientific advice, microbiology, preparedness, public health training, international relations, health communication, and the scientific journal Eurosurveillance. The centre was established in 2004 and is headquartered in Solna, Sweden.
Vancouver General Hospital is a medical facility located in Vancouver, British Columbia. It is the largest facility in the Vancouver Hospital and Health Sciences Centre (VHHSC) group of medical facilities. VGH is Canada's third largest hospital by bed count, after Hamilton General Hospital, and Foothills Medical Centre.
The Fraser Health Authority (FHA) is one of five publicly funded health authorities into which the Canadian province of British Columbia (BC) is divided. It is governed by the provincial Health Authorities Act.
Provincial Health Services Authority (PHSA) is a publicly funded health service provider in the province of British Columbia. PHSA is unique in Canada as the only health authority having a province-wide mandate for specialized health services, although within British Columbia the First Nations Health Authority is also non-regional and highly dispersed. The five other health authorities in the province have regional jurisdiction. Services are provided either directly through PHSA agencies or through funding or collaboration with regional health authorities.
BC Cancer is part of the Provincial Health Services Authority in British Columbia, Canada.
The Ministry of Health is a department of the Government of British Columbia which oversees the provincial healthcare system. It manages services including the Medical Services Plan, HealthLinkBC, and the PharmaCare program.
The BC Healthy Living Alliance (BCHLA), formed in 2003, is the largest coalition of health leaders in British Columbia's history. As a non-partisan advocacy group, the BCHLA works with government and holds them accountable to promote wellness and prevent chronic disease.
Mel Krajden is a physician and professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. He is the medical director of the BCCDC Public Health Laboratory. Dr. Krajden obtained his BSc, MD, and FRCPC at McGill University, followed by a fellowship in Infectious Diseases at Stanford University. He is also the medical director of the Public Health Laboratory at the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control. His research focuses on the prevention and care of hepatitis, human papillomavirus, and human immunodeficiency virus.
Aubrey Tingle is professor emeritus in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of British Columbia (UBC) and chair of the board of directors at the Maternal, Infant, Child and Youth Research Network. In March 2001, Tingle was appointed the first president and CEO of The Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research (MSFHR).
Drona Prakash Rasali is a Nepalese Canadian who stood Board First position topping School Leaving Certificate (Nepal) in his high school education, i.e. national board examinations of Nepal, commonly abbreviated as SLC, held in 1972. He is the second person from Dalit communities of Nepal beside Dambar Bahadur Nepali, to obtain the most coveted rank in the history of SLC Board Examinations.
BC Transplant Society (BCTS) founded in 1985 is now an agency of Provincial Health Services Authority (PHSA) in the Canadian province of British Columbia that registers consent to be donors of organs for Organ transplantation.
The COVID-19 pandemic in British Columbia forms part of an ongoing worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a novel infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). On January 28, 2020, British Columbia became the second province to confirm a case of COVID-19 in Canada. The first case of infection involved a patient who had recently returned from Wuhan, Hubei, China. The first case of community transmission in Canada was confirmed in British Columbia on March 5, 2020.
Bonnie J. Fraser Henry is a Canadian physician and public servant who has been the provincial health officer at the British Columbia Ministry of Health since 2014. Henry is also a clinical associate professor at the University of British Columbia. She is a specialist in public health and preventive medicine, and is a family doctor. In her role as provincial health officer, Henry notably led the response to COVID-19 in British Columbia (BC).
Natalie Anne Prystajecky a Canadian biologist and the Environmental Microbiology program at the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control Public Health Laboratory. She holds a Clinical Assistant Professor position at the University of British Columbia. During the COVID-19 pandemic Prystajecky was involved with the development COVID-19 testing capabilities.
Gina Suzanne Ogilvie is a Canadian global and public health physician. She is a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Global Control of HPV Related Diseases and Cancer, and Professor at the University of British Columbia in the School of Population and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine.
