The COVID-19 pandemic crisis has captured the full attention of the general public and brought to light the importance that good public health management can have in a population. Canada has succeeded in implementing remarkable crisis management and implementing a public health policy that is at the forefront of the world. While this country can be proud that COVID-19 was taken seriously, the management of another infection, in this case tuberculosis, was not.
We would be wrong if we considered tuberculosis to be just one health problem among many others; it is, on the contrary, above all a social illness, a reflection of the social determinants of health, as Sir William Osler describes it so well. Inuit are disproportionately exposed to it to a very high degree. One could therefore wonder why, in a country as rich and developed as Canada, the rights of the most vulnerable are always violated.
Minister Jean-Yves Duclos, if I am writing to you today, it is because it is high time to act! It is up to you to assume your own responsibilities towards all the citizens of this country, particularly towards the Inuit. Moreover, in Nunavut, overcrowding, poverty and lack of hygiene have made tuberculosis a real scourge.
But can we blame them? Of course not! Rather, our health care system should be blamed for perpetuating systemic discrimination since the beginning of Confederation. The Inuit have felt neglected for a long time, because we have not mobilized effectively to help and rescue them. In addition, these populations have been victims of historical stigma and trauma, which have amplified TB incidence rates.
Tuberculosis should be eradicated as soon as possible. It is a bacterial infectious disease that is both preventable and curable. But current health laws and programs continue to put Inuit lives at risk, while government should ensure equity in health and social services to address inequities and injustice in within our own borders.
Mr. Minister of Health, allow me to tell you that it is for the prestige of our great country to allow the Inuit to regain their right to health. We cannot behave as if nothing had happened. It is urgent to take action ! It is urgent to use our expertise in the control of epidemics, in the service of life, because promises alone will not change the current state of the situation.
I therefore seek your attention, because I know that the health of all who live in Canada, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and especially in the Arctic, is your concern. Tuberculosis should therefore be one of your priorities. Thus, it is necessary to continue to support the active surveillance program and to strengthen local initiatives in an effective way, in order to promote the health of our compatriots in the North. And it would be very glorifying if at the end of your present mandate, and thanks to your commitment, we could rejoice that Canada was finally able to defeat this scourge.