Yellowknife (May 13/05) - Aboriginals are seven times more likely to have hepatitis C than non-aboriginals in Canada, according to the executive director of the Native Women's Association in Yellowknife.

Audrey Zoe, executive director of the Native Women's Association, holds the eagle feather and drum which she received during the third National Aboriginal Hep C conference in Regina, May 1-4. - Dorothy Westerman/NNSL photo

Those statistics are prompting the association to raise awareness about the disease and to begin an aggressive networking and educational approach to prevention, Audrey Zoe said.

"We can't say it doesn't happen in Yellowknife, because it does," she said of the spread of hepatitis C.

Zoe said the key is to share information and to network and educate the public about the disease.

Zoe, along with Debbie Russell, HIV/HEPC co-ordinator; Annie Goose, secretary-treasurer; Terry Villeneuve, South Slave regional director and Denise McKay, South Slave elder, just returned from the third National Aboriginal Hep C conference in Regina.

During the event, Zoe said they learned the importance of liver function.

"By abusing it with alcohol and drugs, we may not see the effects right now, but 20 years down the road, it will change," she said.

Also during the conference, Yellowknife was chosen to host the 4th National Hep C conference in 2007.

Zoe and her delegates were also presented with the symbolic drum and eagle feather to keep until the Yellowknife conference.

"By coming together, sharing information and networking, with a conference as such coming to the North, we can all strategize in tackling HCV in a cohesive, culturally relevant and proactive approach."