Mongolian government recognizes contributions of SFU professor

The Government of Mongolia has awarded SFU health sciences professor Craig Janes with a medal recognizing his work to help develop the country’s health sector. The award is the highest honour given to non-citizens.

A medical anthropologist, Janes has spent the past 20 years researching a variety of issues in Mongolia related to public health. Recent research projects include an evaluation of health reform, social causes of maternal mortality, the effects of climate change on health in rural areas, and the health consequences of mining development.

“We’ve been trying to push thinking about mining’s impact beyond environmental issues,” says Janes. “We look at the social consequences of mining — changes in demography, migration patterns, and the impact that the population influx has on local populations and the resources and services available to serve them.”

After years of developing close working and research partnerships with various Mongolian ministries and universities, Janes is gratified to see that his research is beginning to be reflected in government policies related to public health.

For example, some of his recommendations in a 2001-2 evaluation of health reform undertaken with the Health Sciences University of Mongolia have been included in a reform package to be introduced in parliament. And research into the public-health impacts of mining development, funded through several grants from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, is finding its way to government decision-leaders. They are discussing the issues with Janes and developing new policies and procedures to manage this rapidly developing sector of the Mongolian economy. Janes is currently in Santa Fe, New Mexico where he is the Henry Luce Fellow at the School for Advanced Research. During his nine-month post, which ends in May, he has been working on a book that summarizes his research into Mongolia’s political economy, post-socialist development, health and globalization.

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