Quebec doctor Fernand Turcotte died this Saturday, May 16, at the age of 78, from COVID-19. He was a professor and one of the co-founders of the Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, as well as a physician at the University Hospital of Quebec. During his academic career, Fernand Turcotte authored some fifty publications in newspapers and scientific journals, and also translated scientific works.<\/p>\n
Dr. Turcotte has dedicated his life to public health in Canada, and was awarded the DeFries Medal by the Canadian Public Health Association in 1998 for outstanding service to the public health of Canadians.<\/p>\n
In particular, he publicly spoke out against the revival of the asbestos industry in the 2010s, emphasizing the importance of putting health interests before commercial ones. In this regard, Fernand Turcotte regularly highlighted the obvious conflicts of interest in public decision-making circles, which are the main obstacles to the proper management of public health issues.<\/p>\n
Fernand Turcotte was involved in the fight against tobacco in Canada, notably through bans on smoking in public places. At the time of his death, he was still a member of the board of directors of the organization Physicians for a Smoke-Free Canada. Fernand Turcotte was thus one of the driving forces behind the improvement of the smoking situation in Canada and, more generally, in French-speaking countries. Today, the country, a global spearhead against the tobacco industry, has one of the lowest smoking prevalence rates in the OECD, with 14.31% of smokers.<\/p>\n
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