The tuberculosis rate among Inuit living in Nunavik, the Inuit land of northern Quebec, is 1,000 times higher than the rate among non-foreign-born Quebecers, and a lack of local medical resources exacerbates the burden of tuberculosis, a new study published in 2006 found. CMJ (canadian medical association magazine) https://www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.251824.
The study, conducted in collaboration with Nunavik Inuit and led by a primarily Indigenous research team, aims to assess current Inuit experience with tuberculosis treatment and derive recommendations from Inuit for effective disease eradication strategies. First Nations and Inuit researchers interviewed 156 Nunavimiut (Inuit people from Nunavik). Of these, 61% were women, 37% were under the age of 35, and an additional 21 non-Inuit health workers were interviewed. Importantly, a significant number of interviews were conducted in Inuktitut.
Inuit emphasized Inuit management over TB eradication strategies and expressed a strong desire for healthy communities and healthy populations.
”Inuit are deeply committed to eliminating TB and are calling for concrete changes to policies and services that currently pose significant challenges. Research findings are being shared with communities, local political leaders, and health organizations. What has become clear is the clear call for an urgent response that respects community autonomy and reality to end the epidemic.” said Native American Ben Geboe, a member of the Yankton Sioux Dakota Tribe and lead author and co-senior author of the study, Dr. Faiz Ahmad Khan and postdoctoral fellow at McGill University Health Center Research Institute.
Insufficient medical resources have resulted in the current program-based approach, creating challenges for Nunavimiut people who, for example, have had to leave their communities for diagnosis. Further burdens include a lack of language-specific care, lack of support for long-term isolation treatment, potential for police and court intervention, and insufficient sharing of information and data on TB rates. Nunavik health authorities have already introduced changes and policies tailored to Inuit preferences.
The study outlines Inuit recommendations called the Seven Calls to Action on TB.
- Strengthening Inuit control over services and data
- Provide person-centered care
- Increase local services to minimize displacement
- Utilize community-wide screening tailored to local needs
- Train and hire more Inuit health workers
- reduce prejudice
- Implement Inuit-led cultural safety training for health-care workers
”In the face of a rapidly worsening tuberculosis epidemic, the governments of Quebec and Canada must respond urgently, as Nunavimiut is calling for, by addressing chronic health resource shortages and enabling the implementation of strong, supportive approaches to ending this epidemic.” concludes the author.
with related comments https://www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.260331writes Dr. Pamela Orr of the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Manitoba.When working with Indigenous partners, non-Indigenous researchers have specific obligations to do reconciliation work. The authors do this by engaging with local communities, raising awareness of past and present harm in the context of Nunavik’s tuberculosis epidemic, and outlining the steps they have taken to achieve policy change through research findings. They move from recognition to action in the work of reconciliation.. ”
sauce:
Canadian Medical Association Journal
Reference magazines:
Geboe, B. others. (2026). Inuit experiences and expertise regarding the 21st century tuberculosis epidemic in Nunavik, Quebec: A community-based qualitative participatory study. CMJ. DOI: 10.1503/cmaj.251824. https://www.cmaj.ca/content/198/13/E474
