INUVIK
"We're the leaders in almost everything bad when it comes to health," Crystal Navratil declared recently.

Crystal Navratil, a community health representative with the Beaufort-Delta Health and Social Services Authority, organized a public forum for cancer survivors at Ingamo Hall on April 29. - Shawn Giilck/NNSL photo

Navratil, a community health representative with the Beaufort-Delta Health and Social Services Authority, organized a sharing circle for anyone in Inuvik touched by cancer April 29 at Ingamo Hall.

The event also provided her an opportunity to do a little educating on why cancer is the leading cause of death for NWT residents, particularly as it pertains to smoking.

"We have the highest smoking rates in Canada (in the North)," Navratil told the group of 30 or so people in attendance. "We're twice as high as the next closest part of Canada."

"Smoking rates are even worse as you head to communities further north," she added.

Statistics Canada's figures show that around 36 per cent of people smoke in the NWT, which is topped only by Nunavut, where rates reach as high as 61 per cent.

That's one of the main reasons why the cancer rates are so high locally, Navratil said, compounded with many other reasons, including lifestyle and diet.

The NWT is at or near the top in many different diseases and social problems, she added, all of which contributes heavily to a lack of general health in the population.

Many of the people present shared their stories of surviving cancer. Many were elders in the community, including at least one person who does not publicly acknowledge she has the disease.

"I don't want everyone to know I'm sick," the elder said. "That's why it's important to have something like this sharing circle."

She also pointed at cultural misunderstandings as a reason why health care is difficult in the North.

"A lot of people feel humiliated when they visit doctors," she said. "There's a lot of things I didn't understand. They use what we call big words."

She added the situation is made worse by the stress of being told you have a serious medical problem. Many people aren't capable of asking coherent questions at that moment, and the cycle of misunderstanding is perpetuated.

Navratil nodded in agreement as she listened to the elder, and then said "that's when you should be asking questions, when you are feeling overwhelmed."

Judith Venaas, who has successfully fought cancer three times, called the event a worthwhile idea.

"I just wanted to come and share my story with them," she said. "I think it's a great event, but maybe it should have been held in the evening. There's a lot of cancer survivors out there, but they're working. And I hope that they do this presentation in the school to help people not start smoking, and to help them quit if they are."

Venaas said she survived the three diagnoses partly because she is lucky.

"All of my cancers were diagnosed early. The first one was in 1985, the second was in 2006 and the third was in 2008. Because they were caught very early, I was treated and I've now been cancer-free for seven years.

"I've always kept a very positive attitude and believed it can be beaten," she said.

We welcome your opinions. Click here to e-mail a letter to the editor.