Tom Beaulieu

Yes, the rates of tuberculosis in the Northwest Territories are six times the national average. That’s a fact, but the numbers are still small. There are 26 cases per 100,000 people. This is the number and it’s less than four cases per 100,000 across the country. In cases where there was a bit of an outbreak of tuberculosis, the department has gone into the community; we’ve gone into the community, we’ve done screening. The last time that occurred we screened 95 percent of the community. We found 17 cases of positive tuberculosis and all of those cases have been eradicated.

The situation is that the community health nurses in communities where tuberculosis has come into the community or the community has come into contact with tuberculosis, the health nurses are working with the communities where there is overcrowding that seems to be one of the factors. We work with the local housing organizations to ensure that if there’s overcrowding in public housing, that we try to address that issue. If there’s overcrowding in the homeownership situation, then we work with the Housing Corporation to try to address that issue.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The department is working on the eradication of tuberculosis. The department works with Aboriginal community governments and our health authorities across the Northwest Territories to make a commitment to eliminate tuberculosis in the Northwest Territories.

From about 1995 to 2009, smoking for people over the age of 15 has gone down from about 52 percent to 38 percent, and that’s largely to do with the Don’t Be a Butthead campaign that was launched in the schools and so on.

The department is trying to come up now with an overall strategy of health problem prevention, and how we’re hoping to do that is to talk to our authorities, and the communities, and the professionals in the communities and try to package, along with the Aboriginal government, try to package the programs that are in the community so that we have a greater impact, that good...

This will be part of the repackaging of the way we are doing business. Communities that have success in programs and then have the program cut off after one year is not something that we want to continue. If communities have success with good programs in the schools or in the communities that are helping with prevention and are doing good upstream work for the Department of Health and for the people in the North, we are going to continue to fund those. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’ve had discussions with the department at the deputy minister level, and I’ve talked to the CEOs of the health authorities in one short lunch meeting and have advised them that this is the direction that I’m hoping to take the department more into prevention. Thank you.

Like I indicated, running through the local health authorities across the North – and we have all the communities in one of the health authorities across the North – and right now the Diabetes Pilot Program and management of chronic diseases, the outcome to hopefully have better long-term results in diabetes prevention is being piloted in Norman Wells, Yellowknife and Behchoko.

I’m hoping that the evaluation that the department would do, working with the John Howard Society, looks at continuing the things that the shelter was put there for, with access to washrooms, telephone, Internet and so on, and also some counselling to the individuals who are accessing the shelter, to try and improve their lives.

Yes, that is the intention. The City of Yellowknife has put their money forward to extend the shelter. Health and Social Services has done a review of the service that has been provided, and once that review is done, the intention is to follow the City of Yellowknife and extend the money through 2012-2013.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize the Grade 5 class of Sissons, and Monique as well. I often go and visit with the students over there.