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NWT residents eat, drink, smoke more: report
Health officer says help is needed across the board

Nathalie Heiberg-Harrison
Northern News Services
Published Friday, August 26, 2011

NORTHWEST TERRITORIES
The latest NWT Health Status Report paints a grim picture of health and wellness in the North.

NNSL photo/graphic

Dr. Lorne Clearsky, chief public health officer of the NWT, says all government departments, not just health and social services, can make changes to help residents live longer, healthier lives. - photo courtesy of NWT Department of Health and Social Services

The report, released Aug. 22 by Michael Miltenberger, minister of health and social services, is designed to give an overview of health in the territory.

Among its findings: people here are less active and more overweight than other Canadians, are twice as likely to smoke cigarettes and marijuana, have sexually transmitted infection rates 12 times the national average and are still being infected with tuberculosis six times more than the average Canadian.

In addition, more than half of residents outside Yellowknife were categorized as heavy drinkers.

Dr. Lorne Clearsky, the territory's chief public health officer, said the report should be used as a learning tool by all levels of government.

"We're certainly having impacts in certain areas, and we can certainly work more in certain areas," he said.

For the numbers to improve, Clearsky said all government departments, not just health and social services, have to make improvements.

"We can do the things that we need to do but it's looking at those other broad determinants of health that can contribute to that as well," he said.

He gave the example of Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA), a drug-resistant super bug, that has increased from zero cases in 2001 to 28.3 new cases per 10,000 in 2010.

"It's typically a nuisance but can be much more severe," he said of the skin infection.

Because it spreads easily between people, living in close quarters increases one's risk of infection.

The simplest way to prevent infection is to maintain good personal hygiene, take regular showers and clean household linens often.

Clearsky said ensuring residents have access to clean drinking water and affordable housing is key to preventing MRSA, as well as tuberculosis.

Ray Ruben, mayor of Paulatuk, agreed that the housing crisis in his community is negatively affecting residents' health.

"I know of one small, three-bedroom house with three families living there, all in the same tiny house. It's one of the units built in 1974 too," he said.

Aside from that, the biggest challenge for residents, he said, is trying to stay active.

"The amount they do versus what they did 30, 40 years ago has changed. I've heard comments from people saying 30 years ago that they wouldn't have been (sick) because they were more active then," Ruben said.

Caribou hunting trips that used to take 10 to 12 days now take one or two because they travel by quads, not by foot, allowing residents to be less active.

He said that although nothing in the report surprised him, it's important to point out the small initiatives happening in communities across the North that make a difference.

This past spring, for example, residents who stayed sober on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays, when planes arrived in town with cargo, each got a ticket and were entered in a weekly prize draw.

"It's trying to create a positive atmosphere," he said.

This was the third Health Status Report released in the NWT. The first was published in 1999 and the second was published in 2005. It is compiled using data from the previous four years.

In a press release, Minister Michael Miltenberger said it was a good way to gauge what has been done and what needs to be done.

"Evidence from this report form the basis of our programs and influence our decision making and program development for the future," he wrote.

Miltenberger was unavailable to comment on the report, according to a GNWT media liaison.

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