Yellowknife (Mar 13/06) - After Maria Blake's mother Effie died from tuberculosis in 2000, health officials vowed to eliminate the disease from the territories by 2005.

The year has come and gone and according to the latest statistics, there were eight cases of TB in the NWT last year, down from 10 in 2004. Nunavut recorded 44 cases of TB in 2005.

TALE OF TB 2001 - 8 cases 2002 - 4 cases 2003 - 12 cases 2004 - 10 cases 2005 - 8 cases Rate still high From 2000-2004, the five year average TB rate was 21/100,000 population, four times the national rate of 5.2/100,000. Regions hit hardest The Tlicho, Deh Cho and Sahtu regions have the highest active rates of TB, 121.9, 32.2 and 26.1 per 100,000 over a six-year period from 1999-2004. Elders hit hardest Average age of person with TB in 2004 was 58, and four times more women than men have been diagnosed with the disease. - Source: EpiNorth, Nov. 2005

The fact that the NWT's rate is still four times higher than the national average angers Maria Blake, who moved to Whitehorse after her mother's death to start a new life.

"Just knowing my mother's death could have been prevented makes it hard to forget," Blake said.

Effie Blake spent five weeks in the Inuvik Regional Hospital before being sent to Stanton Territorial Hospital in Yellowknife, where doctors realized that she had contracted TB.

It was too late to save her life.

In the aftermath, the coroner held an inquest and the government ordered a review. In 2001, Alberta TB expert Dr. Anne Fanning issued a 26-point plan to improve diagnosis and treatment.

At the time, health officials said they would bring TB down to national rates by 2005.

"We're on the road to elimination. We are halfway there," said Dr. Andre Corriveau, adding the disease should be eradicated by 2010.

A 2004 audit of how the NWT is dealing with TB, showed "that we are on the right track," said Corriveau, chief medical officer for the NWT.

One of the recommendations from that report called for ongoing training of medical staff, important with ongoing turnover.

"All internal medicine professionals at Stanton, pediatricians, and GPs in Inuvik, Fort Smith and Hay River must attend training sessions with Dr. Fanning," said Corriveau.

Even with the emphasis on TB, Wanda White, a disease specialist with the department of health, says what happened to Effie in 2001 could happen again.

"We have a high proportion of new employees who have never seen a case of TB," White said.

"But there are more checks and balances, and there's a cadre of employees who have been here a long time who make sure to remind new doctors to always screen for TB."

Corriveau said "a significant portion" of the NWT's aboriginal population are TB carriers, and he'd like to develop an electronic database so health officials can monitor them.

Maria Blake hopes nobody else dies of TB and urges people to take the proper precautions.

"People must get tested voluntarily, even if they don't suspect it," Blake said. "If it takes a long time to get over a cough, that could be a sign they have TB."