Report says in 5 years TB rates in the NWT will be on par with the rest of the country
Jorge Barrera
Northern News Services
Yellowknife (Mar 19/01) - The death of a Fort McPherson teacher from tuberculosis has forced the territory's Health Department to double their efforts in a fight to cut its tuberculosis rates down to national standards.
According to a recently released report titled, "Action Plan to Strengthen Tuberculosis Management and Control in the NWT", the Northwest Territory's Department of Health plans to cut tuberculosis rates in the territory to national standards by the year 2005.
"It's our battle plan," said Jack MacKinnon, manager of health protection and population health for the department.
The territory's rates hover at five to 10 times higher than the rest of the country.
The report breaks down the territory's strategy into four parts: detection, monitoring, training and awareness.
Highlights include the hiring of a second, full time communicable disease control consultant to focus on tuberculous, an upgrade of the territory's clinical standards, an increase of surveillance and an annual report to the Legislative Assembly on tuberculosis control.
"Some will take longer than others to implement," said MacKinnon.
Effie Blake, a Fort McPherson teacher, died in an Edmonton hospital from tuberculosis last summer. She spent five weeks at Inuvik Regional Hospital but wasn't diagnosed with tuberculosis until she was transferred to Stanton Regional Hospital in Yellowknife.
Her family said that she spent two years visiting Fort McPherson's nursing station with complaints of fatigue and other ailments.
Blake's death caused the Health Department to reevaluate their tuberculosis strategy. The department commissioned Edmonton tuberculosis specialist Dr. Anne Fanning to review the territory's strategy.
Fanning outlined 26 recommendations in her report released two weeks ago which stated tuberculosis rates in the NWT unacceptable.
The department's most recent report is a response to those recommendations.
"Hopefully we'll have all 26 addressed by next year," said MacKinnon.
Highlights of Fanning's report include calling for all patients with a cough lasting more than three weeks to be tested for TB, making sure the NWT's policy is followed, maintaining the TB registry and improving community education about the disease.
The department also asked NWT Chief Coroner Percy Kinney to investigate Blake's death.
Results are expected this summer.
