Pauktuutit Women of Canada – President Kudloo calls for additional funding to improve health determinants for Inuit women and girls and a focus on youth to increase Inuit health providers. She will also will highlight how the Canada Health Act is failing Inuit women and girls when she participates in a national meeting to address racism in the healthcare system on Oct. 16. Kudloo will also table recommendations to address racism experienced by Inuit women and children in the healthcare system. In addition, she will highlight the role systemic racism plays in health determinants for Inuit women which lead to poorer health outcomes, relative to other women in Canada.

“For Inuit women and girls, healthcare services fail most of the five basic principles of the Canada Health Act: accessibility, comprehensiveness, universality, portability, and public administration,” said Kudloo. “This is important because under the federal legislation, provincial and territorial health insurance programs must conform to the conditions of the legislation to receive federal transfer payments, under the Canada Health Transfer.” Systemic racism is also a key factor in many of the well‐known determinants of health, including employment, education, justice and income. Racism negatively impacts Inuit students’ success in graduating high school. It also limits their goals for post‐secondary education, including becoming a health professional. In addition, racism contributes to a lack of employment opportunities and the marginalization of Inuit in the workplace, including in well‐paying jobs in the healthcare system.

Recommendations

• Increased funding to ensure the principles of the Canada Health Act ‐‐ including accessibility, comprehensiveness and universality ‐‐ are upheld for Inuit women and girls wherever they live, and that there are sufficient and sustainable health resources in each community.
• Ensuring anti‐racism and cultural safety in education so Inuit children and youth receive STEM outreach programs; high school students receive counselling about the path to becoming a health professional; safe and respectful post‐secondary classrooms; as well as clinical settings that are free of racism and discrimination.
• Training, recruiting, retaining, and mentoring Inuit staff and healthcare providers at all levels of the health system; as well as creating working and learning environments where Inuit knowledge, leadership and enterprise are valued.
• Culturally aware and appropriate training to ensure all students training to work in healthcare, as well as present‐day healthcare staff, receive cultural awareness training regarding Inuit history and culture. Students and healthcare workers should also receive gender‐based violence training and those working in Inuit communities should receive Inuktut language training.
• Inuit‐informed delivery of healthcare so that Elders, community leaders, women and youth are involved in the design and delivery of healthcare programs and services for their people and communities.