Nunavut TB infections break record

Nunavut's top Inuit and health officials say tuberculosis is the most pressing health issue in the territory, where a record number of people have been diagnosed with the disease this year.

One hundred people in Nunavut have been diagnosed with active tuberculosis so far this year, almost doubling the previous record of 58 cases in 2008.

Nunavut's tuberculosis rate is now about62 times the national average.

"This shouldn't be happening in Canada, anywhere in Canada," said Natan Obed, director of social and cultural development with Inuit land-claim group Nunavut Tunngavik Inc.

"We really should be able to treat this and turn the corner on this disease, but we do need help."

Tuberculosis is a highly contagious and potentially fatal respiratory disease that can be contracted simply by breathing in the bacteria.

Tuberculosis was virtually wiped out after the introduction of drugs and vaccinations in the 1960s, but it has lingered in Canada's remote and aboriginal communities due to poverty, overcrowded and poorly ventilated housing and other socio-economic factors.

Obed said Nunavut's tuberculosis rates have been higher than average for years.

"It's completely unacceptable, in our view, considering the steps that can be taken to prevent tuberculosis," he said. "At the same time, it shows that we do have a number of issues that we need to overcome."

More resources needed: medical officer

Dr. Isaac Sobol, Nunavut's chief medical officer of health, said he is working closely with the Public Health Agency of Canada on the issue, which he said can be addressed by boosting health resources and improving social conditions.

"In places like Europe, where TB had ravaged the population, with better hygiene, with better housing and better nutrition, rates of TB went way down even before there were any medicines to treat it," Sobol told CBC News.

Sobol said since tuberculosis can be treated these days, more health-care resources are needed to keep the disease from spreading.

"We've got enough staff to cope with the outbreak, but to be able to really do the contact tracing that we need to make sure we're finding all the new cases that would really require a long-term commitment to more staff dedicated to TB," he said.

Nunavut's Department of Health and Social Services is developing an electronic database to track disease outbreaks, Sobol said.

Department officials are also updating tuberculosis education materials for health-care workers, students and the general public.

Aglukkaq urged to act

Nunavut's high tuberculosis rate came up on Parliament Hill earlier this week, when Manitoba NDP MP Niki Ashton challenged Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq who is also Nunavut's Conservative MP to take action.

"It is high time we tackle the underlying causes behind the Third-World diseases that Aboriginal Peoples face in Canada high rates of diabetes, another fatal flu outbreak and shocking rates of tuberculosis, where in Nunavut we see them at 62 times the national average," Ashton said in the House of Commons on Wednesday.

Ashton asked Aglukkaq when the federal government would address the substandard living conditions that breed illnesses like tuberculosis.

Aglukkaq said the government has already committed millions of dollars to aboriginal health and tuberculosis elimination programs.

"Our government has committed $285 million to federal aboriginal health programs. This funding will assist over 150 community-based projects," Aglukkaq said, before listing various other health programs that have received federal funding.

"We're getting the job done," she said.

But Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, Canada's national Inuit organization, is calling for urgent action on Nunavut's tuberculosis rate.

ITK president Mary Simon said while the federal and Nunavut governments are working hard on the issue, it's time for everyone to step up their efforts.

"It's the emergency situation that I see that needs to be addressed in a more immediate way," Simon said. "That is why I'm calling on all our leaders to focus on this and address it, working in partnership with one another."