Tuberculosis Cause for Concern in Nunavut
15.03.2010 - Human Dimension, Arctic
According to a Northern indigenous group, tuberculosis is spreading quickly across the Canadian Arctic. The number of new infections diagnosed among Inuit peoples has more than doubled, from 41 to 88 since 2004, and infection rates are now 185 times higher than in non-natives.
Inuit lack natural resistance to the disease, and have seen higher infection rates ever since its introduction into the region in the mid-20th century. Between 2004 and 2008, 1,600 cases were diagnosed annually amongst Canada’s population of almost 34 million people. However while numbers of cases have been decreasing in the general population, the number of infections has skyrocketed among Canada’s Inuit population.
The origin of these catastrophic results might have well-documented causes, as there seem to be significant disparities between Inuit and other non-Inuit Canadians in the access to health care. Spread over a territory four times the size of France, the small communities in Canada’s Nunavut have little access to the only hospital in the Province in Iqaluit.
Besides the restricted access to decent health care, the communities also have difficulties maintaining a proper diet as imported foods are expensive and local food becomes dangerous to hunt because of the receding and unpredictable sea ice. Housing is also an issue, as entire families can often be found cramped into single-room houses.
While the disease generally poses no threat if diagnosed early, these various make it difficult to treat the disease easily. Solutions will involve improving housing, food security and access to health care.
