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Meet the new aboriginal health
mag, Medicine Bundle
Putting
healthcare autonomy in the hands of aboriginal
people is one of the top goals of leaders like
Assembly of First Nations Chief Phil Fontaine
(read
our interview with him). It's well-known that
health indicators for this population are one
of Canada's greatest healthcare shames. Now Manitoba
Métis family physician Dr Gilles Pinette
is helping turn the page on this dark chapter
with the launch of Medicine Bundle, his new aboriginal
health magazine.
The
upbeat and colourful publication, which launched
at the recent North American Indigenous Games
in Colorado, hopes to promote healthy living through
sports and healing — both traditional native
and non-native forms. The inaugural issue features
a cover story on the medicinal value of Iroquois
lacrosse (incidentally, one of the fastest growing
sports in North America), fitness and nutrition
tips, healthy recipes (oatmeal bannock, anyone?)
and medical news features relevant to First Nations
and Inuit readers.
In
his first editorial as Editor-in-Chief of the
wholly aboriginal owned and operated magazine,
Dr Pinette waxes hopeful about repairing the decline
in First Nations peoples' health since EC (European
Contact). "Years ago, our people lived in balance
with each other and with the environment and spiritual
world. Every person was able to treat their own
'every-day' ailments (eg, common cold, cuts, bruises,
sore joints) with homemade remedies," he writes.
"Our people would often carry a Medicine Bundle
that would contain essential tools and medicines
that a person might need for day-to-day or exceptional
circumstances. The Medicine Bundle was
a practical and spiritual tool that was used for
primary care and for preventative care."
Dr
Pinette says he hopes that his modern update —
the medicine bundle in magazine form —
will not only help readers find the right path
to better health, but direct you, the physician,
in providing a holistic approach to the complex
health needs of your aboriginal patients.
Look out for these great
articles
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Aboriginal health is without question
Canada's national shame. Health Canada statistics paint
a disturbing picture of our founding peoples' collective
well-being: First Nations men die an average of 7.4
years younger than other Canadian males; the infant
mortality rate is 16% higher than the national average;
the potential years of life lost from injury are 3.5
times greater; they face a three-to-five times greater
risk of developing type II diabetes. And a generation's
worth of successive federal governments (Ottawa directly
administers aboriginal healthcare) have all floundered
badly when dealing with this issue.
However, on December 7, the Assembly
of First Nations (AFN) and Health Canada announced they're
trying something new to fix the system: a joint task
group with a focused workplan. Sound like the same old
creaky bureaucratic approach? This time it's different,
says AFN National Chief Phil Fontaine. For the first
time ever, the stakeholders have agreed on solid deadlines
to get concrete things done (for details, see the table,
right). And according to both the AFN and Health Canada,
all of this will happen within a lightning quick six
months. "The government is committed to healthcare solutions
that provide real, meaningful and measurable results
for First Nations," vowed Health Minister Tony Clement.
PROMISES,
PROMISES
Mr Fontaine, who also gave a speech on the heels of
the workplan, was similarly enthusiastic. But he did
pause to "seriously caution [the government] on any
further delays in addressing the lack of fiscal fairness"
in dealing with First Nations healthcare.
The National Chief added that he's
eager to forge new partnerships with the government
to fix healthcare. "But," he added, "I must specify
that such partnerships will only result in benefits
to First Nations if they are struck and implemented
in accordance with the original founding relationship
honoured in our Treaties."
NOT-SO-GREAT
EXPECTATIONS
With the election of Stephen Harper and the Conservative
election victory last January, few expected that the
government and native leaders would find common ground.
The Prime Minister was quick to kill the much-anticipated
Kelowna Accord, the fruit of 18 months of negotiations
between aboriginal leaders and the previous Liberal
government. That deal would have provided $5.1 billion
to battle sickness and poverty in native communities.
THE
OTHER NATION DEBATE
What's more, the fact that one of Stephen Harper's closest
confidantes and advisors is University of Calgary political
science professor Tom Flanagan didn't bode well. Professor
Flanagan wrote the controversial book First Nations?
Second Thoughts, which dismisses the very notion that
Canada's native peoples constitute "First Nations,"
instead calling them "First Immigrants." It's not entirely
unreasonable to suspect Mr Harper might share his friend's
attitude, which wouldn't win him many friends at the
AFN.
But then a funny thing happened.
After killing Kelowna, the Tories' stance on aboriginal
issues (like the environment) softened and they've shown
a willingness to deal with native leaders with unexpected
pragmatism, if not generosity (that $5.1 billion is
likely gone forever).
The task group is already hard
at it. "Progress is moving along," says Bryan Hendry
of the AFN. "We've had two meetings already and completed
a discussion paper on the legislative base for public
health. We'll be conducting focus groups in February
and March to get First Nations input across the country."
For more, see
for our interview with Phil Fontaine.
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Highlights of the Health Canada/Assembly
of First Nations Task Group Workplan
| Shared interests |
Agreed upon goals |
Deadlines |
| Improving pandemic preparedness |
Set up working group to
collaborate on pandemic preparedness that
includes the Assembly of First Nations, the
Public Health Agency of Canada and Health
Canada |
31
May |
| Sustainable and adequate
funding for First Nations healthcare services |
Develop an agreed upon
"fact base" for future negotiations |
31
May |
| Get better at predicting
growth of the healthcare workload |
The Assembly of First Nations
and Health Canada will collaborate to draft
a study |
31
May |
| Better management and more
accountability in First Nations healthcare
delivery |
Study different approaches
in business planning and resource allocations.
Assembly of First Nations and Health Canada
to jointly draft recommendations based on
the findings. |
31
March |
| Measuring
the performance of First Nations healthcare |
Explore ways in which First
Nations can get involved with the government's
Patient Wait Times Guarantees (PWTG) programme |
31
May |
| Implement First Nations
PWTG pilot projects on diabetes screening
and prenatal screening |
31
March |
| Gather
better data on First Nations health |
Have the Assembly of First
Nations and Health Canada create a join plan
for data infrastructure, indicators, sharing
information. |
31
March |
| Get other federal departments
involved |
| Find out if we need tougher
laws to set standards for First Nations health |
Health Canada and Assembly
of First Nations to draft joint paper looking
at the need for legislation on: public health
standards, water quality, accountability etc. |
31
May |
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