Thank you, Madam Speaker. My questions today will be for the Minister of Health. At the end of March of this calendar year the Premier mentioned the Economic Action Plan 2012 and there was mention within the plan by the national Minister of Health then about Health Canada’s plan to open up offices in Yellowknife and they mentioned Iqaluit during that federal budget to enhance their presence in the North and to deliver services locally. They planned to deliver these in other jurisdictions as well. To date there has been no plan set. We have not heard anything, at least publicly, for that and very little detail for that has been published by Health Canada. Has the Minister of Health been in contact with his federal counterpart and is there an update to this announcement?
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. The honourable Minister responsible for Health and Social Services, Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. I’ve had no specific discussion about any Health Canada positions being transferred into Yellowknife with the federal Minister.
I’m glad I’m also in the dark. Would the Minister indulge the House as to when he might contact the federal Minister of Health to maybe get an update of this so-called Economic Action Plan?
I’m prepared to do that after the federal budget is approved.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
QUESTION 93-17(3):
DIABETES IN THE SAHTU REGION
Thank you, Madam Speaker. I want to ask the Minister of Health and Social Services, in the Sahtu there seems to be an increase of diabetes, of people who have this sickness. I want to ask the Minister if his department knows of this and do they have some kind of action plan to look at the increase of diabetes in people of the Sahtu.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Minister responsible for Health and Social Services, Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. Diabetes is a chronic disease. The department has a plan around chronic diseases which includes diabetes. We recognize that diabetes is increasing by 200 people per year across the Territories. We have not only developed a plan but are actually doing some work in healthy eating, exercises and so on that will combat diabetes.
In the communities that I represent, people are now starting to realize that there’s not only two or three people but five or six that now have diabetes in that community. Sometimes it seems to be hard to get some services, either getting them out to a facility here in Yellowknife or in Edmonton where they can take the one-week Diabetes Education Program. Not only for themselves but also for the families. Has the Minister looked at this type of program where it can be readily available for the people of the Sahtu?
The NWT Diabetes Clinic was open here in Yellowknife. We’re reviewing the reason why the Diabetes Clinic is not open right now. There is a call across the Territories to have the Diabetes Clinic reopened in Yellowknife. Also in the new health centre in the Sahtu there is a plan to have a diabetes program in there.
The diabetes issue is dangerous. It’s coming. We can feel it in the Sahtu. Eight years ago we had very few people with diabetes. Now we have higher numbers each year. It’s affecting our children in the schools. I know the Education department is doing some work. I want to ask the Minister in terms of the education awareness what his department is doing with diabetes in the Sahtu and other communities in the Northwest Territories. People are also realizing this issue of diabetes is going to be a dangerous one if we don’t take care of it.
Aside from discussing healthy eating in the schools and dropping the pop, some exercise, talking to schools about people exercising, talking about walking with people, we’re also looking at carefully expanding the home care so that people with diabetes, that more attention is paid to people’s feet. With diabetes there are a lot of preventable amputations that do occur in the health system. Each amputation costs about $80,000 and there are numbers out there indicating that about 80 percent of those are preventable. If we can step up the home care to make sure that anybody that has diabetes who ends up with ulcers on their feet that attention is paid to that immediately and then we may be able to prevent. The thought is that we may be able to prevent 80 percent of the amputations, which will save a lot of money in the system.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Final supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. One of the factors of the issue of diabetes is the amount of sweets children are eating or people are eating in the schools and especially with the younger children. Is the Minister working with the Department of Education, Culture and Employment with the health curriculum in the high schools, when students pack in chocolate bars upon chocolate bars and pop and all the stuff that they’re drinking and eating, that risk possibly being diabetic one day at a young age. Is the Minister working with the Education department to see if this curriculum is being given the attention that it needs in the high school?
We are working with Education. We are working in the schools. We do provide some funding to the schools. We’ve done some funding directly pertaining to food and people’s hearts and so on to make sure. We’ve also had discussion at the Joint Leadership Council, which is the public administration chairs of all the authorities, about trying to introduce curriculum to health at the high school level. In the elementary or primary school there is health taught in the schools to the younger ages, but at the high school, at this time, I think there is some curriculum that needs to be developed in order to have a full health curriculum at the high school level.
Thank you, Minister Beaulieu. The Member for Range Lake, Mr. Dolynny.
