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NUNAVUT
The success of an anti-smoking youth project this summer has the program destined for schools throughout the territory in January.

The Youth Action Team on Tobacco spent this summer organizing events and spreading awareness about the dangers of smoking, said GN tobacco reduction specialist Dianne Denton. Now, schools are being asked to join the campaign.

"Notice has gone out to all principals in Nunavut to ask teachers to apply to be a Youth Action Team coach," said Denton. "The model is very similar; youth would then take actions in their communities to raise awareness about tobacco."

Youth in Iqaluit, Arctic Bay, Coral Harbour, Iglulik, Gjoa Haven, Baker Lake, Rankin and Arviat all did independent projects in their communities.

"We really wanted to involve youth and give them the sense that they had the power to make a difference about tobacco," Denton said.

In Baker Lake, 18-year-old Candice Kabloona organized a protest against tobacco, complete with picket signs. Kids as young as five years old participated in the event.

Kabloona said the goal was to get youth and adults thinking about the affects of smoking.

"We had signs like, 'tobacco has no place here in Baker Lake,'" she said.

The protest began at Jonah Amitnaaq High School and continued throughout town before finishing off at the high school.

Kabloona also organized a cigarette butt cleanup program, where youth picked up cigarette butts and decorated coffee cans to be used as ashtrays throughout the hamlet. Participants received sunglasses and t-shirts.

In other communities, participants taped off the three-metre area outside of buildings to demonstrate the non-smoking area outlined by the Nunavut Tobacco Control Act, Denton said.

"They got out tape measurers and posted signs and banners notifying people that was the limit and they couldn't smoke within that three-metre area," she said.

Smoking is also disallowed within a 15-metre radius of school grounds and in all enclosed businesses and work sites.

As part of the program, youth received iPods to record the actions they were organizing in their communities.

Some interviewed friends and relatives about how they started smoking and if they wanted to quit.

Denton said the project was a success.

"It worked really well," she said. "We got a very positive response from the youth who participated and other community members about the project."

Thirty-six per cent of female students in grades 9 and 10 in Nunavut are daily smokers, according to the Health and Health-Related Behaviours among Young People: Nunavut 2012 report.

That number is 31 per cent for males.

And kids in Nunavut are smoking earlier than their southern peers.

Even in elementary school, kids report smoking every day, the study found. Twelve per cent of girls and seven per cent of boys in grades 6 to 8 reported smoking daily, compared to two per cent of students in the rest of Canada.

Lung cancer accounts for 46 per cent of cancer deaths in Nunavut.

Ainiak Korgak is the manager of health promotion for the territorial health department. He said the Nunavut Tobacco Reduction Framework for Action, a five-year plan that aims to battle the territory's high smoking rates, is partnering with various agencies, including Pauktuutit Inuit Women of Canada. The advisory committee also includes representatives from Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., the Qikiqtani Inuit Association and other groups.

"This is not just a GN campaign. We involved Inuit organizations because we see them as key partners not just on tobacco, but on health initiatives in Nunavut," Korgak said.

Last fall, youth from Gjoa Haven, Pond Inlet, Kugaaruk, Arctic Bay, Iglulik, Kugluktuk and Arviat gathered in Iqaluit to create public service announcement videos for the framework's public education campaign, Tobacco Has No Place Here.

Additionally, Denton said tobacco education workshops were held in Pond Inlet, Arviat, Gjoa Haven and Sanikiluaq.

"Students created a whole bunch of videos from each of the communities," she said. "The videos will be used in next phase of the campaign."

Korgak said while smoking causes a variety of health problems, including cancer, it can also cost a fortune.

Cigarettes cost nearly $20 a pack in most Nunavut communities.

"Tobacco is not cheap," he said. "If you have three smokers in the house, and that's being pretty conservative, you can see what it costs when you're a smoker."

Smoking doesn't just take a toll on the smoker's wallet, it's costly for the entire territory, Korgak said.

People with cancer and other smoking-related illnesses must travel down south for treatment and usually require an escort.

"Right now, as an example, sending or treating someone with a terminal illness, they have to go down south for treatment," he said. "It adds up really quick."

Korgak said if Nunavut reduced its smoking rate, money used to send people outside the territory for treatment could be allocated to other areas, such as promoting children's health.

Denton said nicotine replacement therapy tools (NRTs), such as nicotine patches, gum and inhalers, are now available at local health centres without prescription. Previously, Nunavummiut looking for quit smoking aids had to have a doctor's prescription, which often took many weeks.

"That could take a month, by which time that window for wanting to quit and feeling motivated to quit may have closed," Denton said.

NRTs have now been reclassified from "physician prescribed" drugs to a "class C" drug, which means they can be stocked at local health centres. Now, people can go to their local health centre and receive a 14-day dose of any product they want until their prescription comes in.

All NRTs are covered under the Non-Insured Health Benefits program for Inuit residents.

Korgak said the Nunavut Quitline, which was launched in 2010, is available 24 hours a day for those looking for quitting advice. The service is offered in English, French, Inuinnaqtun and Inuktitut.

Korgak said unilingual Inuit can call the helpline and leave their name and phone number and an Inuinnaqtun or Inuktitut speaking volunteer will call them back.

The number for the Nunavut Quitline is 1-866-368-7848

The Quitline received 22 phone calls in 2012 compared to only three in 2011, according to the health department.

Korgak said he is hopeful the efforts will pay off.

"We have a long way to go, but hopefully we'll see a difference," he said.

Kabloona said to her, the message is simple.

"It's bad for everyone. It's bad for the health," she said. "It gives you lung cancer."

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