Current Problems: Health (18-24)
Exploring Theme: "Ongoing Health Crisis"
Updates on this page: 42
(Filtered by Stakeholder "Canada")
November 19, 2024
The state of mental health in Canada? It’s alarming, a new Canadian Mental Health Association report finds
NationTalk: TORONTO – Through a first-of-its-kind report, the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) is providing an in-depth look at the mental health system in Canada—with all its cracks and failings—and how people are faring, in every province and territory. What it reveals is troubling. Among the findings of The State of Mental Health in Canada...
October 11, 2024
Minister says not enough beds for compulsory care for addictions across the country
Several provinces are discussing introducing or expanding compulsory treatment Mental Health and Addictions Minister Ya’ara Saks listens to questions at a news conference at the National Press Theatre in Ottawa, on Friday. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang APTN News: The Canadian Press – Provinces and territories need to do more to expand and improve their treatment...
September 26, 2024
Fighting the phantom
New research gives the first national overview of who is losing limbs to diabetic illnesses, and the picture is dire in rural Canada. For First Nations, problems compounded by scarce nutrition and health care take a devastating, often preventable toll Globe and Mail: James Gott, 75, lost his lower legs to complications from diabetes, which,...
July 5, 2024
Calls for action after report finds unnatural death rates in some First Nations over triple Ontario average
Report by Sioux Lookout First Nations Health Authority examines data from 2011-2021 CBC News: When Patricia Keesickquayash looks atop the hill of her First Nation’s cemetery, which was expanded in the 1990s, she wonders how the plots filled up so quickly. Unnatural death rates in First Nations across the Sioux Lookout area of northwestern Ontario...
June 14, 2024
Grand Council Treaty #3 Declares a Nation-Wide Mental Health and Addictions State of Emergency
NationTalk: Grand Council Treaty #3, under the leadership of the Ogichidaa, Gaakinawataagizod, and Chiefs-in-Assembly, have officially declared a nation-wide Mental Health and Addictions State of Emergency across the Treaty #3 territory. The declaration escalates the nation-wide mental health and substance use crisis, determined by resolution CA-23-23 passed at the 2023 Fall Assembly. This crucial declaration...
May 24, 2024
New statistics on opioid poisonings paint a grim picture for First Nations people in Alberta
Alberta opioid poisoning deaths report shows an increase in First Nations deaths Alberta Legislature. Photo: Danielle Paradis/APTN APTN News: In 2022 the rate of opioid poisoning deaths for First Nations was 8.4 times higher than non-Indigenous people, according to a new report released by the Alberta First Nations Information Governance Centre. “When I was going...
May 23, 2024
Mercury poisoning near Grassy Narrows First Nation worsened by ongoing industrial pollution, study suggests
New research shows sulfate, organic matter are exacerbating methylmercury levels CBC Indigenous: A new study from the University of Western Ontario suggests mercury contamination in northwestern Ontario’s English-Wabigoon River has been made worse by ongoing industrial pollution. Contamination of the river system dates back to the 1960s and 70s, when the pulp and paper mill dumped...
April 16, 2024
Indigenous group seeks funding for HIV crisis
Toronto Star: A national organization will find out in Tuesday’s budget if the federal government will fund a multimillion dollar Indigenous-led strategy that could help slow the staggering rise of new HIV cases, as well as other sexually transmitted diseases, which are worryingly high in the Prairies. “If you look at the state of the...
March 27, 2024
Top health officials acknowledge need to ‘refocus efforts’ on TB elimination
Nunavut Tunngavik skeptical current funding will be enough to reach elimination goals CBC Indigenous: Top federal health officials want to get tuberculosis elimination efforts “back on track” in Canada post-pandemic, as newly published data show already high rates among Inuit ticked up between 2021 and 2022. The Trudeau government and national organization Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK)...
March 18, 2024
Inuit leaders, MPs urge action on TB elimination as federal budget nears
TB rate among Inuit 676 times higher than among non-Indigenous, Canadian-born people CBC Indigenous: With the federal budget approaching, Inuit leaders and New Democrat MPs are urging the Trudeau government to tackle tuberculosis in Indigenous communities. Inuit in particular face a “staggering and unacceptable reality” of tuberculosis rates more than 300 times higher than Canadian-born non-Indigenous people,...
January 26, 2024
Marlborough Hotel video sparks calls for better accommodations
Click on the following link view the video: https://winnipeg.ctvnews.ca/indigenous-leaders-demand-better-accommodations-for-those-travelling-to-winnipeg-for-medical-care-1.6744482 First Peoples Law Report: CTV News Winnipeg – Leaders are demanding better accommodations for those travelling from remote First Nations to Winnipeg for medical care. Cockroaches, bed bugs and mice are just some of the conditions patients face in hotels designated for their stays in the...
December 28, 2023
Homes in four Ontario First Nations have dangerous levels of carbon dioxide, mould
A welcome sign for the Lac Seul First Nation west of Sioux Lookout, Ont., on April 24, 2018. File photo by The Canadian Press/Colin Perkel THE FIGHT AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE TAKES MANY HANDS, AND ALL OF US ARE BETTER EQUIPPED WHEN WE’RE INFORMED. Goal: $125k $98,930 Donate Canada’s National Observer: A study has found air...
December 13, 2023
Indigenous people in remote communities may not see much benefit from national dental care plan
If there are no services in your community, more money doesn’t matter, says pediatric dentist CBC Indigenous: The co-founder of the Indigenous Dental Association of Canada says along with expanding coverage, the federal government needs to be improving access to dental care for those who live in remote communities to keep oral health gaps from widening. “Unless we’re dealing with the issues...
November 28, 2023
Global Ozempic shortage affects First Nations people with diabetes
Health Canada says Ozempic shortages could last until March 2024 CBC News: The global shortage of the diabetes medication Ozempic has diabetics like Eleanor Michael from Sipekne’katik worried about finding alternatives. Ozempic has seen a skyrocketing global demand, in part due to prescriptions related to weight loss. Michael, whose Mi’kmaw community is about 50 kilometres northwest of Halifax, was diagnosed with diabetes earlier this year...
September 15, 2023
How the legacy of Canada’s tuberculosis sanatoriums haunts public health efforts in Pangnirtung
Officials battling the disease must contend with trauma caused by their predecessors and new challenges too CBC Indigenous: Sixty-five years ago, tuberculosis left Nancy Anilniliak with an invisible scar. In 1958, when she was five, Anilniliak was taken from her family in Pangnirtung and transported all by herself to a sanatorium in Hamilton, Ont., aboard...
September 14, 2023
Tuberculosis screening clinic to open in Pangnirtung, Nunavut
Clinic will operate until Dec. 1 in community dealing with TB outbreak since 2021 CBC Indigenous: Nearly two years after the government of Nunavut declared a tuberculosis outbreak in Pangnirtung, a community-wide screening clinic will open in the community of 1,500. Jointly funded to an amount of up to $4 million by the federal and territorial governments...
September 7, 2023
Pimicikamak Cree Nation worries it won’t have enough staff to run new health centre
First Nation’s leaders say nursing station running with less than half of staff it needs Manitoba First Nation struggles to find staff for new health centre: Duration 1:38 Pimicikamak Cree Nation is pleading for more government support for health care. The community in Cross Lake says it’s struggling with few local health services and a severe...
September 4, 2023
Searching for solace a year after tragedy in James Smith Cree Nation
Members of First Nation look for ways to heal 1 year after mass stabbings in Saskatchewan CBC News: Rickety wheels slice through the undisturbed gravel of the race track in Prince Albert, Sask. A man in a cowboy hat declares that the first chariot race will start soon. After donning helmets, vests and a need for...
August 8, 2023
‘Very little’ government help for 11 Man. First Nations months after declaring state of emergency
Government approved $300,000 in extra funding but chief says that’s not enough CBC News: More than four months after declaring a state of emergency First Nations in Manitoba say the current federal support offered fails to address numerous long-term issues in their communities. The Keewatin Tribal Council — representing 11 communities spread throughout northern Manitoba — declared a state of emergency...
July 22, 2023
Inuit elders making historic healing journey from Nunavut to Hamilton’s former sanatorium
1,200 Inuit were forced to stay at Sanatorium on the Mountain for tuberculosis treatment CBC News: Over a dozen Inuit elders are making a historic healing journey to Hamilton this weekend to revisit the former sanatorium site where they were held in isolation and endured psychological abuse in the 1950s and ’60s. Naomi Tatty helped organize...
July 6, 2023
Tuberculosis numbers increasing in Nunavik communities
5 communities have outbreaks; 58 cases in total this year CBC News: An annual music festival was postponed due to a tuberculosis outbreak in northern Quebec, as the Nunavik region grapples with a series of outbreaks in several communities. Salluit’s festival was supposed to start June 29, but will now happen in the fall. Salluit resident Ida...
June 20, 2023
Grassy Narrows chief questions federal commitment to mercury care home amid delays, soaring costs
Facility could now require an estimated $80M to build — 3 times what was initially pledged CBC News: More than three years after the Canadian government agreed to fund a in-community mercury poisoning care home for Grassy Narrows First Nation, construction hasn’t started, estimated costs are skyrocketing, and the chief is questioning the prime minister’s commitment. “It makes...
May 12, 2023
More than 6 years later, Moses Beaver’s means of death ‘undetermined’, inquest jury finds
Jury delivers 63 recommendations focused on improving mental health care for Indigenous people WARNING: This story discusses mental distress and suicide. CBC News: The jury overseeing the inquest into the death of Moses Beaver has deemed the means of his death to be undetermined — which is the finding his family was hoping for. The...
April 25, 2023
Mikisew Cree First Nation declares state of local emergency following multiple suicides
‘We can feel the grief amongst the people, the hurt,’ says Chief Billy-Joe Tuccaro CBC News: A First Nation in northern Alberta has declared a state of local emergency following a string of suicide and suicide attempts among community members. The Mikisew Cree First Nation says immediate medical intervention is needed in Fort Chipewyan, Alta.,...
April 17, 2023
COVID-19 pandemic stalled progress on eliminating tuberculosis among Inuit: officials
CTV News: Nunavut’s health minister says the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted efforts to eliminate tuberculosis in Inuit communities, and questions remain over whether targets to stamp out the disease can be met. “COVID has had a huge impact on every area of health care, and that includes TB,” said John Main. “While we were putting so much effort...
April 12, 2023
Staffing shortages in northern Manitoba nursing stations a ‘life or death’ matter, advocate says
Indigenous Services Canada says it’s working to recruit and retain nurses CBC News: A shortage of nurses across the country is hitting hard in remote and northern First Nations like Pimicikamak Cree Nation in Manitoba, where nursing stations are typically the only place people can access health care close to home. Chief David Monias said the nursing station in Pimicikamak...
April 3, 2023
Northern Manitoba chiefs call for immediate federal action on health-care crisis
Recent deaths linked to inadequate medical care include mother of 5 from Manto Sipi Cree Nation, chief says CBC News: A group of Manitoba chiefs is calling for immediate action from the federal government to address what they call a health-care crisis causing preventable deaths on northern First Nations in the province. That action needs...
April 3, 2023
Budget erred by suggesting Ottawa backing away from Inuit TB eradication, minister says
ITK president worried about meeting 2030 goal to eliminate TB in Inuit Nunangat CBC News: The Indigenous services minister says the Liberal government made a mistake in the federal budget by appearing to back away from its promise to eradicate tuberculosis in Inuit communities. In the document released last week, the government announced $16.2 million...
March 23, 2023
Northern B.C. First Nations say they need more resources to deal with the illicit drug crisis
Distance a barrier to accessing addictions treatment, say communities Members of B.C.’s most northern communities are saying they need more resources to deal with the impacts of the province’s drug crisis, at a forum in Prince George, B.C., this week. More than 200 First Nations leaders and health-care workers met to talk about harm reduction,...
January 30, 2023
RSV is still a threat, especially in Canada’s North. But new treatments and vaccines are on the way
“We’ve known for a long time that Inuit babies have four to eight times the rate of hospital admission due to RSV, compared to the premature babies or the cardiac babies” with RSV, Banerji said. In the Arctic, the peak is usually February/March to June. One doctor is calling for an expedited review of a...
December 15, 2022
When their child’s doctor is 2,800 km away, Inuit families face tough choices
Nunavut mother says some Inuit who leave territory for health care don’t return CBC News: Medical travel between the remote community of Clyde River, Nunavut, and Ottawa has been an essential, but difficult journey for Tina Kuniliusie and her 14-year-old daughter Tijay. The toll has been high and after almost a decade and a half of...
December 2, 2022
Government of Canada announces nearly $10 million to support Indigenous communities address substance-related harms
Improving health outcomes for Indigenous people at risk of substance-related harms and overdose across Canada Health Canada: The ongoing effects of colonialism and institutional racism are closely linked to the disproportionate harms that the overdose crisis and increasingly toxic drug supply have had on Indigenous Peoples. The Government of Canada is committed to addressing these...
November 24, 2022
The Impact of Inaction – New Publication Reveals Not All of Canada is on Track to Meet Global Hepatitis C Elimination Goal
Timing of elimination of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) in Canada’s provinces indicates 70% of provinces could reach the World Health Organization’s (WHO) HCV elimination target of 2030, however three of Canada’sprovinces — two of them the most populous in the country — are off track to achieve this hepatitis C elimination goal.1 Timely elimination would save 170...
September 11, 2022
James Smith Cree Nation chief calls for drug treatment centres in wake of knife attacks
Crystal meth addiction is rampant in community, support needed, leaders say CBC: The chief of James Smith Cree Nation and other Indigenous leaders are calling on the provincial and federal governments to fund on-reserve addiction treatment centres following the horrific stabbing rampage on the Saskatchewan First Nation and neighbouring town of Weldon. “We’ve got to protect our...
September 6, 2022
The beast of addiction in Indigenous communities remains untamed
Globe & Mail: Tanya Talaga – Over the past week, a Thunder Bay hotel’s conference room has become home to a land-based healing and recovery program. There, 17 women from one northern First Nation about two hours down the highway – women who are addicted to opioids, alcohol, crystal methamphetamine (jib) and/or methadone, which is...
July 11, 2022
Canada needs to implement pandemic preparedness in dealing with TB
The goal to eliminate TB by 2030 can happen if lessons learned from COVID are implemented. This includes investing in health and telemedicine. Policy Options: by Elizabeth Rea, Tina Campbell, Petra Heitkamp Because of the pandemic, tuberculosis deaths globally have increased for the first time in over a decade. Concerning considering that before COVID, TB was the leading...
June 30, 2021
Jordan’s Principle Funding
The Matawa Education and Care Centre (MECC), – formerly, the ‘Matawa Learning Centre,’ yesterday released their report entitled ‘Matawa Education and Care Centre 5th Annual Report on the Seven Youth Inquest – Academic 2020-2021.’ For the first time—it included an alert regarding MECC’s potential inability to meet inquest recommendations 64, 71, 81, 83, 84, 85,...
October 21, 2020
Food Insecurity
The Narwhal – Human Rights Watch released “My fear is Losing Everything: Climate Crisis and First Nations’ Right to Food” in Canada. The report details how longer and more intense forest fire seasons, permafrost degradation, volatile weather patterns and increased levels of precipitation are all affecting wildlife habitat and, in turn, harvesting efforts. The report...
September 29, 2020
Beyond Hunger – The Hidden Impacts of Food Insecurity in Canada”
Community Food Centres (CFC) – Release of “Beyond Hunger – The Hidden Impacts of Food Insecurity in Canada”. Even before COVID-19, food insecurity affected nearly 4.5 million Canadians. In the first two months of the pandemic, that number grew by 39 per cent. Food insecurity now affects one in seven people, disproportionately impacting low-income and...
July 24, 2016
Star Investigation: A Poisoned People
The steady drip of the neurotoxin mercury has percolated through river sediment, the food chain and generations of Grassy Narrows First Nations residents for more than four decades, killing a community’s livelihood and then contaminating its people. By David Bruser News Reporter, Jayme Poisson News reporter Toronto Star: GRASSY NARROWS FIRST NATION—For more than 40 years...
July 14, 2016
Fire protection on reserves
NationTalk – There is no national fire protection code that mandates fire safety standards or enforcement on reserves. All other jurisdictions in Canada including provinces, territories, and other federal jurisdictions (such as military bases, airports, and seaports) have established building and fire codes. The Aboriginal Firefighters Association of Canada (AFAC), NIFSC’s parent organization, supports the...
June 20, 2016
Province ignores information about possible mercury dumping ground: Star Investigation
A retired labourer says that more than 40 years ago he was part of a small crew that “haphazardly” dumped drums of mercury and salt into a pit near Grassy Narrows First Nation where water and fish have long been contaminated by the toxic metal. By Jayme Poisson News reporter, David Bruser News Reporter Toronto Star:...
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