title: Institute of social justice and medicine: developing a think tank to promote policy formation.
abstract: The World Health Organization (WHO) defines health as a "resource for everyday living, not the objective of living"; however, worldwide, there remains an unmistakable inequity in level of health and access to healthcare. The WHO has published documents on financing health systems towards universal health coverage [1], promoting healthy life [2], improving performance of health systems [3], and enriching humanity [4], highlighting our shared responsibility towards improving both national and global health and access to healthcare. These documents also recognize that, despite our local and regional priorities, there is a global desire to develop international strategies to improve healthcare.   [1] WHO Report. Health systems financing and the path to universal coverage. 2010. http://www.who.int/bulletin/health_financing/en/index.html [2] WHO Report. Reducing risks, promoting healthy life. 2002. http://www.who.int/whr/2002/en/index.html [3] WHO Bulletin. Health systems: improving performance. 2000. http://www.who.int/whr/2000/en/index.html [4] WHO Bulletin. Conquering suffering, enriching humanity 1997. http://www.who.int/whr/1997/en/index.html.
authors.affiliation: MD Program, University of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. abooz008@uottawa.ca
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Boozary
authors.forename: Sagar B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Dugani
mesh_terms: D000047:Academies and Institutes; D006801:Humans; D008511:Medicine; D011050:Policy Making; D012935:Social Justice; D014944:World Health Organization