Manulife Pledges $1
Million Over Three Years to Support Research, Capacity
Development and Advocacy
TORONTO, March 19,
2024 /CNW/ - The Centre for Addiction and Mental
Health (CAMH), through its initiative womenmind™, and Manulife, a
leading global life and health insurer and global asset manager,
have entered into a three-year partnership to support the Women's
Health Research Cluster (WHRC). The $1
million donation will support women's mental health and
well-being, not only in Canada,
but around the world.
The WHRC is an international network of multidisciplinary
professionals that strives to create a future where women and girls
can live equitably healthy lives across their lifespan. With over
570 members in 29 countries, the WHRC takes an integrated health
approach that recognizes all aspects of a person can affect mental
health, including access to help and treatment facilities, economic
status, physical health, well-being, and more.
The WHRC is allied with CAMH's womenmind initiative, a
community of philanthropists, thought leaders and scientists
inspired and empowered by the work of CAMH to tackle sex and gender
disparities in science and put the unique needs and experiences of
women at the forefront of mental health research.
"Women's health research has, for centuries, been undervalued
and underfunded," said Dr. Liisa
Galea, inaugural Treliving Family Chair in Women's Mental
Health, Scientific Lead for womenmind, and Leader
of the Women's Health Research Cluster. "In Canada, less than 6 percent of research
projects funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research
explicitly examine factors specific to women's health, despite the
fact that many mental health disorders—such as anxiety and
depression—disproportionately affect girls, women and gender
diverse individuals. We need to do better, and we can do better. I
am very grateful to Manulife as one of the largest corporate
supporters of CAMH to help us cultivate sex and gender health
equity in Canada and
worldwide."
"Our government is working with our partners to break down
barriers to make it easier, and more convenient for people to
access the mental health services they need, when they need them,"
said Sylvia Jones, Deputy Premier
and Minister of Health, "Womenmind is another example of how
collaboration across the health care system is ensuring essential
research into women's mental health, leading to better access to
high quality mental health services, in every corner of the
province, and meeting the unique needs of women across Ontario and Canada."
Through the partnership, Manulife will provide the Women's
Health Research Cluster with $1
million over three years to advance its strategic
priorities, including:
- Research Facilitation: Enabling and connecting researchers to
do their best work;
- Capacity Development: Building the next generation of
researchers;
- Advocacy: Driving equity in policy and investment in women's
health research;
- Knowledge Translation: Generating interdisciplinary dialogue
around women's health to improve health outcomes.
"Manulife proudly supports the WHRC's efforts to tackle sex and
gender disparities in science to place the unique needs and
experiences of women at the forefront of mental and physical health
research," said Naveed Irshad,
President of Manulife Canada. "We are deeply committed to fostering
positive change and empowering sustained health and well-being here
in Canada and worldwide. This
partnership exemplifies our broader mission of making a meaningful
difference in the lives of individuals and communities where we
live and work, leaving a lasting legacy of support and
empowerment."
Manulife is committed to helping Canadians improve their
physical, mental and financial health and live longer, healthier,
better lives. Through its Impact Agenda, Manulife is proud to
support local organizations across the country, like CAMH, and
empower sustained health and well-being.
About Manulife
Manulife Financial Corporation is a leading international
financial services provider, helping people make their decisions
easier and lives better. With our global headquarters in
Toronto, Canada, we provide
financial advice and insurance, operating as Manulife across
Canada, Asia, and Europe, and primarily as John Hancock in the
United States. Through Manulife Investment Management, the
global brand for our Global Wealth and Asset Management segment, we
serve individuals, institutions, and retirement plan members
worldwide. At the end of 2023, we had more than 38,000 employees,
over 98,000 agents, and thousands of distribution partners, serving
over 35 million customers. We trade as 'MFC' on the Toronto, New
York, and the Philippine stock exchanges, and under '945' in
Hong Kong.
Not all offerings are available in all jurisdictions. For
additional information, please visit manulife.com.
About CAMH
The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) is
Canada's largest mental health
teaching hospital and one of the world's leading research centres
in its field. CAMH is fully affiliated with the University of Toronto and is a Pan American Health
Organization/World Health Organization Collaborating Centre. The
organization conducts groundbreaking research, provides expert
training to health care professionals and scientists, develops
innovative health promotion and prevention strategies, and
advocates on public policy issues at all levels of government.
Through its Foundation, CAMH raises tens of millions of additional
dollars to fund new programs and research and augment services.
womenmind™ is a community of philanthropists,
thought leaders and scientists dedicated to tackling gender
disparities in science to put the unique needs and experiences of
women at the forefront of mental health research. Inspired and
empowered by the work of CAMH, members of
the womenmind community connect with and learn
from each other while driving change for women's mental health and
women in science.
SOURCE Manulife Financial Corporation