To mark World Tuberculosis Day, Honourable Jane Philpott, Minister of Indigenous Services, together with Natan Obed, President of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK), commit to eliminating TB across Inuit Nunangat by 2030, and reduce active TB by at least 50% by 2025.

This will be achieved through an Elimination Action Framework led by the previously announced TB Task Force. Among the first priorities are to prevent deaths related to delays in diagnosis and to eliminate TB disease in young children. Elimination plans in each of the four Inuit regions that make up Inuit Nunangat will be developed and tailored to regional strengths and requirements. Regional plans will include enhanced public health programs and capacity-building within communities to enable earlier diagnosis, leading to earlier treatment of active TB disease and latent TB infection. Awareness efforts will also be undertaken to increase understanding of TB in order to help reduce transmission and address stigmatization.

In order to meet these aggressive target dates, special emphasis will be placed on work to address social inequities and improve Inuit social determinants of health that are closely linked to TB; such as housing, food security and nutrition, access to health services and mental wellness. Budget 2018 announced $27.5 million over five years to support an Inuit-specific approach to tuberculosis elimination. This is in addition to the $640 million over 10 years announced in Budgets 2017 and 2018 to address Inuit Nunangat housing needs.