HEALTH: Native Suicide Surge Rooted in Colonial Traumas
Am Johal
VANCOUVER, Jan 7 2008 (IPS) – When the spotlight hits Canada for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, the event will be promoted with a traditional Inuit inukshuk the official logo for the 2010 Olympic Games.
Deeply embedded in Inuit culture, an inukshuk is a stone structure that serves as a directional landmark on the frozen Arctic tundra and symbolises safety, hope and friendship.
But most Canadians and the international community are unaware that suicide rates for Inuit are 11 times higher than the Canadian average. In some parts of the Eastern Arctic, the suicide rate is even higher. Despite these alarming numbers, no public health emergency or advisory has been declared by territorial or federal government health departments.
Critics argue that the Nunavut government and most other people capable of dealing with this problem continue to view suicide as a result of cultural change while ignoring depression, alcoholism and historical trauma i…
Canada Severely Curtails Refugee Health Care
MONTREAL, Jul 3 2012 (IPS) – As major cuts to the Interim Federal Health Program (IFHP) came into effect across Canada last week, medical professionals say both refugees and the Canadian healthcare system as a whole will pay a heavy price.
(This is a) government document that we can read that explicitly says we are denying patients with chronic conditions and acute illnesses medications and in many cases, any treatment at all. (It s) unheard of, said Dr. Philip Berger, chief of family medicine at St-Michael s Hospital in Toronto, and a member of Canadian Doctors for Refugee Care, a grassroots group of healthcare professionals that has come out against the cuts.
It s one of those rare, exceptional circumstances in life where there is no room for compromise. Doctors cannot distinguish (between) patients who need healthcare on the basis of their refugee category, Berger told IPS.
IFHP provides limited health coverage to approximately 128,000 protected persons,…