CMAJ studies on Inuit wellbeing underscore PM’s call for action on maternal and child health

January 28, 2010 – Ottawa, ON – Inuit welcomed Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s announcement yesterday in Davos, Switzerland, that Canada will lead G8 nations in a major initiative to improve the health of women and children in the world’s developing regions, and offered to work closely with him in extending his vision to tackling the great disparities in maternal and child health in Inuit regions of Canada.

Two articles published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal this week underscore the severe and unacceptable gaps in health in Arctic regions and reinforce the need for greater resources to address the social determinants of health among Inuit.

One, titled “Food insecurity among Inuit preschoolers,” showed that more than 70% of Inuit children in Nunavut live in homes where there is not always enough food.

The other, titled “Birth outcomes in the Inuit-inhabited areas of Canada,” found ‘substantially elevated risks’ of preterm birth, still birth and infant death, and ‘large and persistent disparities’ in fetal and infant mortality among Inuit in comparison with other Canadians.

“These studies demonstrate what we have been saying, and repeating, for quite some time. Inuit, including Inuit infants and households with infants, experience far greater health challenges than other Canadians. These challenges extend to such basic issues as putting food on the table and create a range of aggravated problems for expectant mothers, newborns and infants. Put quite simply, too many Inuit kids and their parents are going hungry,” said Pita Aatami, acting president of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, the national organization representing Inuit in Canada.

“I am confident that the Prime Minister will agree with me that the graphic and persistent health gaps faced by Inuit are unacceptable. Closing gaps in basic Inuit social wellbeing is a problem that confronts Canada as a G8 country, as well as Inuit as a people. It requires candid recognition and the investment of further political energies and financial resources by the Government of Canada, as well as by everyone else who has a part to play.”

For more information:
Patricia D’Souza, communications officer
Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami
dsouza@itk.ca; 613/292-4482