Kirsten Murphy
Northern News Services

Iqaluit (July 09/01) - A Vancouver pediatrician is blowing the scientific whistle on what Northern health advocates have known for years.

Inuit children on Baffin Island are living with exceptionally high rates of lung disease due to second-hand smoke and crowded homes.

Healthy baby Ian Paton and his non-smoking mom, Jimmy Paton, who gave up cigarettes when she learned she was pregnant. - Kirsten Murphy/NNSL photo

Dr. Anna Banerji spearheaded the eight-month study of 26 babies at the Baffin Regional Hospital between 1997 and 1998. Her article, "Lower respiratory tract infections in Inuit infants on Baffin Island," appeared in the Canadian Medical Association Journal June 26.

"My concern is about the high rate of children ending up on life support," she told News/North, noting other concerns.

The study, conducted with the help of scientists in Alaska, Ontario, Montreal and the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention in Altanta, Ga., makes a conclusive link between smoking while pregnant and sick Inuit children.

"It's not like I discovered it ... what I'm doing is a wake-up call," said Banerji, now in Vancouver.

Banerji wants to discourage pregnant women from smoking and protect children from second-hand smoke, either at home or in public.

It's a long-standing problem already under redress.

The Ottawa-based Pauktuutit Inuit Women's Association started pushing for smoking-cessation programs in 1997.

Pauktuutit welcomes Banerji's study, said Todd Armstrong, the organization's HIV-AIDS coordinator. A red flag went up when he read the article, though.

"You could read this study quite negatively in terms of Inuit culture," Todd said. "Science spends an enormous amount of time proving what Inuit could tell you 10 years ago.

"Inuit have a long tradition of understanding of the relationship between families, the land, city life. The fact they have not done empirical studies does not mean what they know is not factual."

Not everyone needs smoking patches, programs or confidence-building mantras to kick the habit.

Jimmy Paton, for example, gave up smoking upon news of her pregnancy.

"When I heard it (smoking) could be bad for my baby, I quit," Paton said. "He's healthy, I'm healthy."

Pauktuutit's most recent and perhaps most radical move is the call for all Nunavut and NWT hamlets to adopt no-smoking bylaws in public spaces. So far, not one has dared to take up the challenge.

Armstrong was also critical of what he said was the article's glossing-over of accessible health care.

However, within the study's parameters, the findings reintroduce the need for tobacco initiatives and bigger, better housing in Nunavut.

Health Minister Ed Picco applauded Banerji's work. He pointed to the government's "aggressive" anti-smoking campaign and the recent influenza vaccinations as evidence his department is committed to improving the health conditions of Inuit children.

He admitted more needs to be done across the territory.

"We need another 1,000 new housing units and we need the federal government (Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation) to come back to the table," Picco said.

"We know we can't just put our heads in the sand."

Banerji's study will lead to further research -- perhaps as early as the fall.

"I'm doing this work because I believe there is a problem," she said.

The cost of (not) quitting

Consider the following unlikely scenario. Every Nunavummiut who smokes -- roughly 17,000 people -- successfully kicks the habit.

The government of Nunavut would lose about $6 million (or 12.6 cents per cigarette) in tobacco tax each year. That $6 million amounts to just one per cent of the territory's annual budget.

Geoff Hughes, the Finance Department's director of revenue management, said tobacco tax revenue is small but significant.

"It's more than payroll taxes, property taxes, fuel taxes and much higher than we bring in on corporate income tax," Hughes said.

However, it's a loss the government would happily swallow. "You would save substantially on heath care costs," he said.

Health Minister Ed Picco agreed. "The long-term savings alone would mitigate any loss of revenue."

Tobacco's toll

Dr. Anna Banerji's study of 26 babies' lung infections at the Baffin Regional Hospital concludes:

• All 26 infants had mothers who smoked during their pregnancies.
• Three of the babies (12 per cent) required life support.
• All 26 infants went to live in homes where at least one family member smoked.
• Environmental factors such as substandard housing and poor ventilation were likely contributing factors to the infections.
• Nunavut and the Northwest Territories have the highest infant mortality rates in Canada.

Source: Lower respiratory tract infections in Inuit infants on Baffin Island. CMAJ, June 26