Jillian Dickens
Northern News Services

Iqaluit (Oct 28/05) - The word is out on the HTLV-1 virus, but some Nunavummiut say the government should be doing more about sharing information.

Dorcas Young of Pangnirtung says the territorial government should "be working harder to let us know what's going on."

Dr. Isaac Sobol, Nunavut's chief medical officer of health, reads information the department of health and social services distributed on HTLV-1, a virus recently discovered in the territory. He says informing people about HTLV-1 should be more engaging than simply posting fact sheets on the wall. - Jillian Dickens/NNSL photo

Young just heard about the new virus a few days ago while flipping through an old newspaper.

"I thought it was frightening when I first read it," said Young. "I think they should let us know what communities it is in because it's scary not knowing where it is."

The virus, Human T-cell Lymphotropic Virus, Type 1, is spread through blood to blood contact, and was first discovered in Nunavut over three months ago. It was announced publicly Sept. 30.

Samson Ejangiaq of Arctic Bay is less critical of the government's efforts.

"The (community health representative) went on the local radio and explained everything."

He finds the idea of the virus is scary, but says getting it is unlikely if you behave.

"As long as I don't cheat on my wife, I know I'm not going to get it," said Ejangiaq.

He says it's nobody's business who has the virus and where they live.

"If someone has the virus, it's not for me to know," said Ejangiaq.

Nina Palituq, who works at the Ilisaqsivik Family Resource Centre in Clyde River, said last week she hadn't heard of HTLV-1.

"I'm not familiar with that," she said. "We should have been informed right away. We could have educated people that came in and further prevented the spread," said Palituq. "I haven't seen programs on this yet, and education would be nice."

Nunavut's chief medical officer, Dr. Isaac Sobol, refuses to give information as to where the virus exists in Nunavut due to patient confidentiality.

Spreading the word on HTLV-1 is well under way, says Sobol.

"What we've done is briefed our staff, including every health centre in the communities by video conference, on the virus, and asked the community health representatives to go meet with the hamlet council and health committee to be sure they have all the information and know the situation of HTLV-1 in Nunavut," said Sobol.

Further to that, he said, all materials on the virus have been translated from English to Inuktitut and Inuinnaqtun for distribution to the health centres.

There are fact sheets and pre-test counselling available at health centres spanning Nunavut.

"In addition to reading the fact sheets people can ask questions to the staff or directly to me if they need to. We envisioned a process of public consultation that was more engaging than posting fact sheets on a wall."

Cost estimates for the effort can't be concluded at this time, said Sobol.

Fewer than 20 people in Nunavut have contacted the virus, spread through blood-to-blood contact.

The virus can be spread from infected people in a number of ways, including sharing needles, giving birth, breastfeeding and having sex without the use of a latex condom, said Sobol.

About four per cent of all infected actually develop symptoms related to it.