Tobacco Use Among Inuit: An Inuit Specific Strategy is Needed

Bob Reid, associate director of the rehabilitation centre at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute, is to be congratulated for his study on the smoking behavior of Nunavut’s expectant mothers. The finding that some 80% of pregnant women in Nunavut smoke is alarming.

The rate of tobacco use in the Arctic is far higher than the national average. As a matter of fact in some regions it is more than double the national average, and among Inuit it is higher still with (according to a the 2006 Aboriginal Peoples Survey). Some 64% of Inuit using tobacco daily.

This is a paradox that almost defies explanation.

• we know that lung cancer is a leading cause of death for Canadian Inuit
• we know that Inuit newborns and infants are among the most unhealthy in the country as a result of, in part, the high rate of pregnant women who smoke, and
• we know that cigarettes in the Arctic are the most expensive in Canada at upwards of $16.00 for a single package.

We also know that, according to Health Canada, the federal Tobacco Strategy is working in other places in Canada with a reported decline in smoking related deaths, a reported decline in cigarette sales, and, for the first time, a reported decline in the number of youth using tobacco.

Why then, with all that we know, and keeping in mind the success of the national tobacco reduction strategy, do so many Inuit continue to smoke?

Our view is that, as with other areas of concern, Inuit need an Inuit specific tobacco reduction strategy. To this end Inuit have been developing, and will soon release, the “Inuit Tobacco Reduction Strategy” that is built in large part upon our unique culture and cultural values. It is a strategy that is inspired by the fact that traditional Inuit society was tobacco free, and the knowledge that Inuit can play a lead role in becoming tobacco free once again.

This is not something that will happen overnight. It will take time, the dedication of many, and ongoing financial support, to succeed, but it can be done. Indeed it must be done, the cost of not engaging in this process, both in terms of valuable lives lost, and financial considerations, is too far too great to consider.

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