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Health Canada has decided they should speak to First Nations about H1N1 concerns and is hoping it will stop the F*** ups. What a revolutionary thought. They are so excited about this ingenious new idea, that they will hold a Press Conference all about it tommorrow. Well, it's not much, but it's a start. Hopefully the government will follow up with other super smart and clever ideas - like access to clean water, safe housing, schools, doctors and nurses, economic development.... Now that would be worthy of a news conference. The one bizarre twist in this story is INAC flack Ted Yeomans' insistance that the body bag incident had nothing to do with this announcement. Uh-huh. Christ Ted, just say your sorry and stop being an ass.

Full story below.


Tories reach out to First Nations after body bag blunder
By Sue Bailey (CP) – 1 hour ago

OTTAWA — The Harper government is reaching out to First Nations with a flu communications strategy after this week's body-bag fiasco was blamed on a misunderstanding.

Shawn Atleo, national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, will join Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq and Indian Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl for an unusual weekend news conference here Saturday.

Sources say chiefs of some of the most vulnerable communities across Canada will soon have a conduit to raise flu concerns with Ottawa health officials.

The ministers are expected to outline a plan for regular meetings between assembly and government staff. Federal willingness to ease the exchange of such information is seen by some as an olive branch to outraged chiefs.

Ted Yeomans, a spokesman for Strahl, said that's going too far.

"Tomorrow's announcement is not a result of what issues were dealt with this week in regards to H1N1. What will be announced has been worked on for a number of weeks and has been planned for some time."

There is also talk of a virtual summit to allow First Nations with online access to ask questions of flu experts.

Not all communities will be able to take part, said one source close to the planning. But it's a start.

Atleo has expressed frustration with how Ottawa deals with far-flung, often remote First Nations.

He reacted with "disbelief" when Manitoba reserves hard hit by the H1N1 flu received several body bags from Health Canada this week.

A department spokesman said the shipment was part of "routine restocking" - not linked solely to a potential new wave of flu.

Atleo said the badly timed blunder shows why native leaders have been calling since last spring for a new approach.

"This incident demonstrates the urgent need to ensure pandemic planning is developed in partnership with First Nations," he said in a statement.

"I am urging the responsible federal ministers to work with First Nations leadership nationally, regionally and locally to ensure effective communication, clear planning and full engagement and attention on this matter."

Aglukkaq has vowed to get to the bottom of the body bag deliveries as native reserves brace for a second outbreak of H1N1 this fall.

Starting last spring, the flu pandemic disproportionately hit native reserves grappling with lack of running water and overcrowded houses.

Chiefs from some of the most stricken Manitoba reserves accused Ottawa of abandoning them. Some leaders travelled to the nearest cities to buy hand sanitizer and other supplies in bulk after federal shipments were delayed over concerns residents would drink alcohol-based cleanser.

Aglukkaq has repeatedly insisted that the federal government has a pandemic response plan to help all communities should the flu return in force.

At least 76 Canadians across the country have died from H1N1, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada.

Copyright © 2009 The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

Other posts on this topic:

September 16, 2009: Expecting flu assistance, native reserves get body bags from Ottawa
June 10: No Doctors, No Nurses, but emergency hand sanitizer is on its way
June 6: If it isn't racism, what is it?
June 5: Feds slow to respond to First Nation pandemic planning: Manitoba
June 4: Another update H1N1
June 3:More on H1N1 at St. Theresa Point First Nation
June 2: Please follow this story. Please write to your MP

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Please follow this story. Please write to your MP.

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It is looking likely that the H1N1 virus has hit a First Nations community (see article below.) When the H1N1 flu originally hit in Canada, the cases were milder than the cases in Mexico. Many have speculated that this is because of the difference in health status.

Yet in Canada health status can vary. Many First Nations live in overcrowded housing, which facilitates the spread of disease. Poverty, food insecurity, the presence of mould in homes, the higher rates of diabetes, TB, cardiovascular illness etc all work to lower the immune systems of First Nations people and make them more vulnerable to disease. (health stats)

Add this to a lack of access to medical services - it is estimated that 1 in 5 First Nations people can't access a doctor or a nurse in their community - and you have a recipe for disaster.

Now a severe flu, likely the H1N1 has hit a First Nation. As you can see in this story, the First Nation only hatched together a pandemic plan after ths flu hit.
Why? Well, it's difficult for a First Nation to pull together a pandemic plan, not only because of the lack of health services and professionals, but because jurisdictional disputes between federal departments (Health Canada and INAC) and between federal and provincial/territorial governments as well. These disputes prevent First Nations from accessing health care at the best of times. (see this news story, or this one)

Often governments argue over who should provide the service and have refused to offer health services because each wants to stick the other with the bill. The scenario is known in Indian country as "Jordan's Principle" named after a child who had to live three years in a hospital because federal and provincial governments fought over who would pay for his medical supports if he went home. The eventually solved the dispute, but Jordan never got to go home. He became ill again and died in the hospital.

So I am asking that you please follow this story, and am asking also that you write your federal MP, plus your provincial representative and ask them to get moving on including First Nations in pandemic planning before a disaster (or I guess bigger disaster) hits. Also if you can tell them to adopt Jordan's Principle (they know what it is) and end discrimination against First Nations children in the health care system that would be good too.

Suspected H1N1 flu outbreak hits reserve
By: Jen Skerritt



A remote First Nations community has shut down its school over heightened concern a severe flu is spreading among area residents. St. Theresa Point First Nation Chief David McDougall said today an additional five children suffering from severe flu-like symptoms were flown to Winnipeg on Monday night.

Over the last week, seven people suffering from severe flu-like symptoms were medivaced to Winnipeg in the last week, including two pregnant women who were sent to St. Boniface Hospital’s intensive care unit. One woman lost her child as a result of the illness. Health officials have flown in at least two additional nurses and two doctors to deal with the emerging respiratory crisis in the remote community, located 500 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg.

Lab tests haven’t confirmed the cause of the illness, but public health officials suspect the respiratory virus could be H1N1 influenza, also known as swine flu. Residents have been told to avoid public gatherings and stay home if they're sick to stop the spread of the disease. "There was a spike in the number of cases brought to the nurses' station with flu-like symptoms," McDougall said. "It was a red flag."

St. Theresa Point community leaders held a meeting Monday afternoon to discuss how to pull together a pandemic plan. McDougall said the community lacks the infrastructure to deal with a full-scale outbreak and that a potential pandemic could spread quickly since residents live in overcrowded homes.

He said community leaders are trying to quell public fear and keep residents from panicking. "There's a respiratory problem and of course that's always a concern," McDougall said. "We're trying to figure out what the best response is."

McDougall said Health Canada and Manitoba Health are working with St. Theresa Point to investigate the spike in illnesses.

jen.skerritt@freepress.mb.ca

Other posts on this topic:
June 10: No Doctors, No Nurses, but emergency hand sanitizer is on its way
June 6: If it isn't racism, what is it?http://crazybitchesrus.blogspot.com/2009/06/please-follow-this-story-please-write.html
June 5: Feds slow to respond to First Nation pandemic planning: Manitoba
June 4: Another update H1N1
June 3:More on H1N1 at St. Theresa Point First Nation
June 2: Please follow this story. Please write to your MP

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The barely visible Leona Aglukkaq

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The H1N1 virus was the first time I've seen Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq quoted in the news since her appointment. For the most part she seems content to let her press secretary Josée Bellemare do her public speaking for her. I am not the only one to notice:

Rookie minister praised for quick, open response
Globe and Mail
OTTAWA — It is the first test for the rookie health minister: a flu, with early cases reported in Canada, that could evolve into the pandemic predicted by medical experts for so many years. Leona Aglukkaq has been one of the least visible cabinet ministers since her swearing-in last winter. She rarely gives interviews. She has made few national policy announcements. She has seemed content to let other ministers take the limelight.

So while I agree with the Globe and Mail that Leona Aglukkaq has been invisible, I fail to understand their interpretation that her behaviour is some how a cutesy/endearing/bashful/modest attempt to allow others to take the limelight. It's not cute at all. It's irresponsible, unaccountabile, and inept. She needs to step up and do her job and address the issues.

Allow me to give a few examples.

Ottawa leaves marijuana issue in limbo
The federal government is not saying when it is going to comply with a court ruling nearly 16 months ago that struck down a section of its regulations regarding the medical use of marijuana.The regulations restricted designated producers to growing cannabis for no more than a single approved user of marijuana.Federal Court Justice Barry Strayer ruled in January, 2008, that the restriction is "arbitrary," not "rationally related to legitimate state interests" and violates the principles of fundamental justice. It is estimated that more than 400,000 people in Canada use marijuana for medical reasons, according to evidence presented in a case in British Columbia. Less than 20% of the nearly 3,000 people approved to smoke marijuana for medical reasons access it from the government-approved supplier, because of complaints about the quality."Our government is now looking at a range of legal options and will come forward with a policy response very soon," said Josee Bellemare.

Chief begs Ottawa for better health care
Another infant from Garden Hill is fighting for her life in a Winnipeg hospital under similar circumstances that contributed to the death last month of a six-month-old baby from the northern reserve.The incident occurred less than a month after six-month-old Chace Barkman died of meningitis. His parents were sent home from the nursing station repeatedly with instructions to treat his fever with a cool bath and Tylenol. By the time he was finally medivaced to Winnipeg it was too late and he died eight days later, on March 27. On Tuesday, the parents of the year-old baby tried repeatedly to have their daughter seen by nurses at the nursing station in Garden Hill, but the overworked staff sent her home. Harper said he has repeatedly asked Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq to visit Garden Hill and see for herself the poor state of health care delivery but the invitations have been ignored. He hoped to meet with her in Ottawa but instead met with Health Canada bureaucrats and Aglukkaq's chief of staff. Aglukkaq's spokeswoman, Josee Bellemare, said the government is committed to providing quality health care in Garden Hill.
"We are currently looking into Chief David Harper's concerns," she said.
She said Garden Hill has a new nursing station, built in 2004, which provides primary health care, public health and emergency services 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Toronto to host global meeting on fighting TB
...And the Inuit, their TB rate is 90 times higher The most recent numbers from Statistics Canada suggest at least 70 people died across Canada in 2004 of TB-related causes. Newly minted federal Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq, who hails from Nunavut, knows the issue all too well. "She does recognize that tuberculosis is a big problem," said her press secretary, Josee Bellemare.

Wakey wakey Ms. Aglukkaq. Do your job or resign and gve your job to Bellemare. And while we're at it let's give the Globe and Mail a shake too. Since when did it become their job to write government press releases instead of news?

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