Inuit communities urge policy changes to address tuberculosis epidemic

Inadequate resourcing of health care has led to the current program-centred approach that causes hardship for Nunavimmiut who have had to leave their communities for diagnosis, for example. Additional burdens include lack of language-specific care, lack of support for long treatment periods in isolation, potential for police or court intervention, and inadequate information and data sharing on tuberculosis rates. Nunavik health authorities are already implementing changes and policies that better align with Inuit preferences.

• Increase Inuit control over services and data
• Provide person-centred care
• Increase local services to minimize displacement
• Use community-wide screening, adapted to local needs
• Train and hire more Inuit health care workers
• Reduce stigma
• Implement Inuit-led cultural safety training for health care workers

"In the face of a rapidly worsening tuberculosis epidemic, the governments of Quebec and Canada must respond urgently by addressing chronic health care underresourcing to enable implementation of a robust and supportive approach to ending this epidemic, as called for by Nunavimmiut," the authors conclude.

Source:

Canadian Medical Association Journal

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