HEALTH CARE ON INUIT PEOPLE OF CANADA

Health Care on Inuit People of Canada

Health Care on Inuit People of Canada

Introduction

The conditions for living for the Inuit people are not encouraging. There is a wide margin in the health conditions of the Aborginal and the Non-Aborginal people of Canada. The Inuit face harsh difficulties in delivery of healthcare services. The life expectancy of Inuit's is 16 years below the average of a Canadian (Mead et al, 2010). There is large number of accidental death reports in the region. According to the Institute of Cancer of Canada, lung cancer among Inuit's is three times more than an average Canadian. The rate of TB among children o-5 years was reported to be 40 in 2001. The infants of Inuit face the severe impacts of mercury and PCBs that are present in the traditional food that is made in the region. The severe Climate changes have a negative effect on the safety and health of the Inuit community (Skinner et al., 2005).

Discussion

While conditions are improving, First Nations people living on a reserve may experience inadequate housing and a higher risk for chronic diseases such as diabetes and tuberculosis. A September 2009 study revealed that, while a quarter of First Nations people living on a reserve knew of at least one confirmed case of H1N1, other health conditions such as diabetes, cancer, smoking, alcohol and drug use were of greater concern (Richmond, 2009). Some other factors affecting pandemic response efforts in remote and isolated communities include: the distance required to travel to hospitals for acute care, high rates of pregnancy and in a few communities, limited access to running water. These remote communities tend to experience more difficulty overall in gaining timely access to a full complement of health services (Egeland et al, 2010).

The ...