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NDP health forum comes to town Panel discusses aging, cultural competency and Northern access to health careThandiwe Vela Northern News Services Published Wednesday, January 23, 2013
The Saturday event was part of Healthcare: Now is the Time, an NDP campaign in which party leaders travel across the country to gather feedback from Canadians about health care as the current funding and health care service delivery agreements between the federal and provincial and territorial governments is set to expire in 2014. "There's a vacuum right now. What's going to happen?" said NDP health critic Libby Davies, who was in the city from her Vancouver East riding to talk about the expiring health accord. "We're going out talking to Canadians about health care." Presentations were also given at the forum by Western Arctic MP Dennis Bevington, Alternatives North, First Nations health-care activist Sandra Lockhart, and NWT chief medical officer Andre Corriveau, who briefed the forum on the current health status and challenges in the NWT, which is underscored by an aging and dispersed population. Heavy drinking, smoking and overcrowded housing in NWT communities has led to rising cancer rates and the spread of diseases such as tuberculosis, Corriveau said. Lockhart talked about health care and cultural competency and the importance of spirituality in sound health. "Health-care providers are going into traumatized communities," she said, recommending that post-traumatic stress be seen as an important part of treatment in the territory. Bevington pointed to the midwifery program as a Northern success story for its role in increasing birthrates as young women are able to access care from conception to post-natal in their communities, without having to be sent to Yellowknife. "We also have to look at the successes," Bevington said. The health-care forum will continue in different cities across the country over the next several weeks.
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