NDP pursue tuberculosis strategy

NDP pursue tuberculosis strategy, vow to end suffering on First Nations - Winnipeg Free Press - December 23, 2009

By Jen Skerritt

Two Manitoba MPs will push for a new tuberculosis strategy to eliminate what they call Canada's "national embarrassment." Winnipeg North MP Wasylycia-Leis, Churchill MP Niki Ashton and the federal NDP's aboriginal affairs critic Jean Crowder have struck a committee to develop a national action plan to eliminate TB in First Nations communities. They plan to introduce their strategy as a private member's bill when Parliament resumes in late January, in addition to calling an emergency debate on the issue.

Wasylycia-Leis said the move is a reaction to a recent Free Press series that revealed some Manitoba First Nations have recorded some of the highest rates of TB in the world since the mid-1970s. Some northern Manitoba communities have recorded more than 600 cases of TB per 100,000 -- more than 100 times what their rate should be.

By comparison, Canada's national rate is five cases per 100,000.

In developing countries such as Bangladesh, the rate is slightly below 400 cases per 100,000.

Wasylycia-Leis said she wants to see the Harper government make TB a top priority and work with aboriginal communities to end a curable scourge.

"I think the federal government can play a key role by saying this is a national priority," she said. "(It's) a national embarrassment.

Here we are heading into 2010 and a curable disease is taking a toll on our First Nations communities." A spokeswoman said federal Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq was unavailable for comment.

TB is an infectious disease that experts say is a symptom of poverty, and a byproduct of overcrowded homes, malnutrition and poor overall health. The airborne disease is rampant in many northern Manitoba reserves where more than 10 people are crammed into a small house and access to clean running water and affordable healthy food is limited.

Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak (MKO) Grand Chief David Harper said he thinks developing a national strategy is a great idea. It should include better housing, access to running water and infrastructure improvements, he added.

While a major TB outbreak in Harper's home community of Garden Hill in 2006 did little to prompt a response from the federal government, he is optimistic that things will be different in the wake of the H1N1 crisis.

The same deadly mix that let H1N1 flourish in remote aboriginal communities last spring has allowed TB to persist on Manitoba reserves for a century.

Half of the 500 overcrowded houses in Garden Hill aren't hooked up to the main water line, making handwashing -- one of the basic keys to prevent the spread of disease -- more difficult.

"This is really a good time to bring about that kind of change," Harper said. "This is one of the issues we'd want to be 100 per cent involved in." Ashton said better housing and increased support for healthy food initiatives will be included in the new strategy.

She said the federal government needs to take a targeted approach to address the living conditions and the root causes of TB in order to stop the spread.

"The fact that Canada in 2009 has tuberculosis rates on par with a Third World country is shameful," Ashton said.

Manitoba Health Minister Theresa Oswald called the idea of a national strategy "hugely encouraging" and said she'd like to see more work done to address the health disparities between aboriginals and non-aboriginals.

She said the source of much of Manitoba's TB problem stems from poor, overcrowded housing in some communities, and poor health.

She said Ottawa has spent more on health recently. She hopes it devotes more resources to close the gaps. "I will be cautiously optimistic," she said. 

What is TB? TB spreads like the common cold. A person can become infected with TB if they inhale airborne droplets from an infected person who is coughing, sneezing, spitting or even talking. TB germs usually spread through prolonged, close contact with an infected person.

TB can be cured with nine months of drug treatment. If TB is left untreated, a person with active disease will infect an average of 10 to 15 people a year.