Andrew Raven
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Nov 11/05) - The Northwest Territories spends more per capita on health care than any other Canadian jurisdiction except Nunavut, according to a report released last week.

During the 2005-2006 fiscal year, the territorial government will devote $211 million to health, an average of $4,907 per person. That total is more than double the Canadian average. Nunavut ranks first, well ahead of the Northwest Territories, at $8, 682.

The numbers came from the Canadian Institute for Health Information, a non-profit organization that compiles medical statistics from across the country.

The isolated confines of the Territories and the higher-than-average wages needed to attract health professionals to the North are two mains reasons for the high health-care, according to government officials.

Overall, the provinces and territories will spend $91.4 billion on health this year, a 7.5 per cent jump over 2004-2005.Health spending in the Northwest Territories has jumped nearly $60 million since the 1999 division with Nunavut.

The high cost of attracting physicians to the North is a major reason for the trends, according to the report. The NWT will spend about $800 per capita on physicians this year, well above the $624 Ontario will spend.