Health Watch - August 2014

Compiled by Shari Narine

Locally undertaken report contradicts government’s cancer findings

A report released in early July by the Athabasca Chipewyan and Mikisew Cree First Nations, in collaboration with researchers from the University of Manitoba, draws an association between oil sands produced environmental contaminants and declines in community health and well-being in Fort Chipewyan, Alta.  Scientific research methods were integrated with local knowledge to produce Environmental and Human Health Implications of Athabasca Oil Sands. “This report confirms what we have always suspected about the association between environmental contaminants from oil sands production upstream and cancer and other serious illness in our community,” said Mikisew Cree Nation Chief Steve Courtoreille in a news release. The report indicates that the health of people on the two First Nations is being impacted both by traditional foods and store-bought foods along with the lack of health services available locally. Researchers and the community leaders urge further investigation of contaminant concentrations, in addition to the mitigation of existing occurrences. The findings contradict a report released by the province in March that indicated the “overall cancer rate in the community is not significantly higher than expected.”

A $10-million donation from Michael and Amira Dan to the University of Toronto will support the creation of an institute dedicated to improving the health of Indigenous peoples. The institute will be based at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health and will involve faculty experts throughout the university. An advisory committee dedicated to community-based collaboration will be assembled to ensure key voices from Indigenous communities are involved in the institute’s mission. “The actual creation of an institute that merges traditional and contemporary experience in health is a truly exciting development for Indigenous peoples the world over,” said Elder Fred Kelly, a member of the Ojibways of Onigaming and a citizen of the Anishinaabe Nation, in a news release. “It is noble in vision and bold in mission. Its spirit of innovativeness is a dream coming true.” A governance structure will be developed over the next few months to ensure a commitment to collaboration and participatory practices with respect to the institute’s teaching, research and knowledge-translation activities, to ensure benefits for Indigenous peoples in Canada and globally. 

A partnership formed by the University of Saskatchewan College of Medicine and the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations, led by U of S medical anthropologist Carolyn Tait, will contribute to work undertaken by the Transformational Research in Adolescent Mental Health, a $25-million project financed by a private foundation and a national research body. Suicide, drug addiction, poverty, poor housing, stress and many other issues affect mental health, with adolescents living in remote First Nations communities particularly vulnerable. Tait and a team will work with a number of First Nations in Saskatchewan over the next six months to develop a plan to address the concerns and then over the next five years will take guidance from the youth, their families and those directly involved. The goal is to create a seamless, effective system for prevention, treatment and research.

A coalition, which includes people from across Canada, says it will pick up where the inquest into the death of Brian Sinclair left off  delving into systemic discrimination in health care and making its own recommendations on how to address it. The Aboriginal man was left waiting in the emergency room of Winnipeg’s Health Sciences Centre in September 2008 because of a blocked catheter. Although he spoke to a triage aide upon his arrival, he was never formally registered nor spoken to by a triage nurse. He was discovered dead in the waiting room 34 hours after his arrival. Aboriginal groups, academics, and health professionals comprise the coalition which says it is disappointed that the inquest did not explore “systemic racism” in Canada’s health-care system. Lawyers for Sinclair’s family and several Aboriginal groups pulled out of the inquest halfway through because inquest Judge Tim Preston ruled the hearing should focus on unclogging emergency rooms rather than exploring why such assumptions were made about Sinclair. Many, including Sinclair’s family, are calling for a public inquiry to further examine the discrimination facing Aboriginal and marginalized people in the health-care system. Manitoba’s attorney general has said the government won’t make a decision about that until the inquest report is complete around December.

The First Nations Panorama Implementation Project team in BC has won a national eHealth award for its ground-breaking work creating new pathways to technology and access to better health services for First Nations in the province. The FNPIP team earned the Innovation in Adoption of Health Informatics award. In the area of eHealth connectivity, capacity, and data integration for First Nations in BC, FNPIP has advanced partnerships between First Nations health service organizations, who are the first in Canada to access First Nations-specific reporting software; provincial health authorities; and provincial and federal governments, eliminating barriers to vital public health and surveillance information. Panorama now offers an effective mechanism for First Nations to govern their own public health data within the provincial system, while cutting red tape for clients.

Compiled by Shari Narine