TUBERCULOSIS: Canada: First Nations: Feds' plan to tackle First Nations TB cases 'disappointing'

Jen Skerritt
October 18, 2010
A federal health committee previously urged Health Canada to move quickly to step up its fight against TB and be more accountable about how it tracks, treats and monitors TB cases.
Health Canada's plan to reduce disproportionately high rates of tuberculosis among First Nations falls short, according to critics who called the government response "superficial" and "disappointing."
Last week, Health Canada quietly released their response to a slew of recommendations to revamp Canada's TB strategy to eliminate a disease critics have called a "national embarrassment." Rates of TB infection among Canadian aboriginals are roughly 31 times higher than among non-aboriginals.
A federal health committee previously urged Health Canada to move quickly to step up its fight against TB and be more accountable about how it tracks, treats and monitors TB cases. In April, a panel of experts — including former Manitoba TB control director Dr. Earl Hershfield and University of Manitoba professor Dr. Pamela Orr — testified at a House of Commons committee that there are no national standards on monitoring and controlling TB and there are insufficient resources and medical staff to fight the disease on reserves.
While First Nations leaders and medical experts were optimistic the recommendations would lead to a concrete plan to tackle the scourge on reserves, they said the federal government response lacked substance and was short on specifics.
Health Canada's response, posted online last week, reiterated previous health, housing, and economic funding announcements and said the government will take the recommendations into consideration as it renews its national TB strategy. Health Canada said it is collaborating with TB experts, provinces, territories, and First Nation and Inuit partners on its renewed strategy, which "is expected to begin in 2011 using a phased-in approach."
Hershfield called the response "disappointing," and said there was no indication the federal government plans to address the root causes of TB.
"They are regurgitating old plans and I don't think there's anything in here that would encourage me that they're going to do anything," Hershfield said. "It's a superficial government report making sure that every T is crossed and I is dotted and using the right words without any substance."
Manitoba is a national hot spot of TB that experts say is a byproduct of overcrowded homes, malnutrition and poor health. The airborne disease is rampant in many northern Manitoba communities where cramped living quarters help it spread.
Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak Grand Chief David Harper said he found it "disturbing" that Health Canada mentioned TB's connection with overcrowded, poor homes toward the end of their response, and did not make a solid commitment to solve the current housing crisis. Harper said infectious diseases such as TB and MRSA will continue to spread until the federal government improves the current situation.
"Bottom line is this is spreading rapidly and is still spreading today from one community to another," he said of TB.
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