Inuit health needs broad support
More money needed to improve health, but jobs and training would be good start
Casey Lessard
Northern News Services
Published Monday, December 8, 2014
OTTAWA
It's going to take a lot more work and resources to improve the "disproportionate health challenges" Canada's Inuit face as they experience "comparatively lower life expectancies, high rates of infant mortality and the highest suicide rates of any population group in the country," a recent report commissioned by Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami shows.
A Venn diagram demonstrates the linked determinants that contribute to good, or bad, health for Canada's Inuit, as described in a recent Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami report. - image courtesy of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami |
"The whole report suggests that to increase or better the health of the individual Inuk, that we take a holistic approach," said Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami president Terry Audla. "Food security, income distribution, mental wellness, education, the whole gamut of that diagram. In order to improve the overall health, you need to look at all facets."
The diagram he describes is a Venn diagram that has the overlapping circles of quality of early childhood development; culture and language; livelihoods; income distribution; housing; personal safety and security; education; food security; availability of health services; mental wellness; and the environment.
Everything is tied together. Do you have a stable income? Do you have a safe place to call home? Do you have enough to eat? Are you in a safe relationship? Are your health concerns diagnosed and treated properly? For many Inuit, life is constantly lived on the edge.
The result? Canada's highest suicide rate, high rates of smoking, tuberculosis, childhood bronchitis. The Inuit population continues to grow, but on average, Inuit live shorter lives.
"The answer (to better health) is not easily attainable," Audla said. "You have to look at everything that's tied into what makes up a society, and not do things isolated from each other."
A common theme emerges in the report, billed as a "comprehensive review" of the social determinants of Inuit health - Inuit need more skills training and jobs. If Inuit had more jobs, and jobs that paid better, their health would benefit, the study suggests.
"Income distribution," is the key, Audla said. "Being able to be gainfully employed and working toward a higher education so you can get gainful employment."
Income distribution also needs to benefit those who can't work due to health issues.
"Do they have either the wherewithal to live on their own, do they need family support, do they need a form of food security so their overall health is not deteriorating but improving?"
The study shows increased self-determination would "enhance culture, language, economy and health," according to the report's authors. Audla says efforts to develop the economies of small communities typically fall flat due to insufficient investment.
"There's just no infrastructure," he said, noting how isolation contributes to the cost of living. "You can imagine Canada a century ago. Why did they build the railroads? To get from one coast to the other. That was a huge economic driver in its own right. We call ourselves a Northern nation. Why don't we look North? Why don't we expand the road system, the rail system? Why don't we build more deep-sea ports? If we want to call ourselves a true Arctic nation, then ante up."
As youth pursue activities other than hunting, he warned of the looming loss of the cultural tools that sustain communities.
"Two-thirds of the Inuit diet throughout is still dependent on the bounty of the land and sea, and if you didn't have that, you'd see Third World conditions in Canada's Arctic," he said.
Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami will use the report to lobby governments for more money and attention to improve the lives of Inuit, Audla said.
"It's a dispersing of information to policy makers, decision makers, legislators, to say this is the reality, and this is what we feel would be the best approach to improve the overall health of the individual," he said. "We're hoping this drives decision makers to come up with decisions that are pertinent to the realities. All they need to do is sit down with us and have a meaningful, frank discussion."
