Northern News Services

Yellowknife (July 02/01) - Inuit from across Canada gathered in Inuvik June 26 to 28 to talk about how to revamp current health policies and practices that affect them.

One woman pushed past the policy shaping lingo to the guts of why she believes Inuit need to take control of their health care. Mary Adams tearfully described how her husband succumbed to Alzheimer's disease 13 years ago.

"My husband who was a quiet man became very vicious toward people and animals and I had to get rid of guns, axes and knives," she said.

"At first we just though he drank quite a lot and that it was old age and alcoholism ... I have never seen material on Alzheimer's in Inuktitut."

Adams said she never got any help in her home of Goose Bay, Labrador and eventually her husband was sent to St. John, Nfld. for treatment.

"We can not keep sending elders from their communities to kallunaaq land," she said.

At that time Adams had been facing the burden alone for so long she thought seriously about suicide, she added.

"That is why I am here, this is the one purpose I am here for, to ask for help."

The recommendations made at the conference held at the Midnight Sun recreation centre in Inuvik were directed toward Inuit Tapirisat Canada to use as tools in bringing Inuit concerns to the Health Canada.

There were a number of them and although they were a crude product of three days of discussion, many vague and overlapping, the conference's ITC organizer said it was the first time Inuit got together as health planners.

"We will ensure that Health Canada understands Inuit specific," said Kerrie Duncan.

"We need to have Inuit doing this work."

Recommendations ranged from providing all health care information in an Inuit cultural context specific to each region and in each dialect, to implementing a national cancer registry for Inuit.

Diseases taking a toll on Inuit communities and specific to the North such as diabetes, cancer and tuberculosis were mentioned but delegates focused of devising plans to blanket health care in general.

Other recommendations included finding funding to provide translators and interpreters for every region and dialect, hiring elders to provide traditional medicine instruction and a five-year commitment from Health Canada to work with Inuit organizations.

Nellie Cournoyea, IRC chair, zeroed in on recruitment of health care workers in her closing remarks.

"Right now we are very short on people who work in the communities," she said.

"The federal government is not addressing the situation. I would like you all to come out of here very strongly and tell both our governments to get on with it."

The conference was attended by ITC and Health Canada officials, Inuit from each of the six Inuit regions in Canada, elders, youth representatives, Statistics Canada and land claim group representatives as well as health organization and council representatives.