Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I just want to follow up on my Member’s statement, the idea from one of my constituents from Fort Liard about beginning cancer screening for our elders. I know that we have a great program in diabetes screening and diabetes workshops that we provide in all the communities. I see there’s good uptake on that. I, myself, take the opportunity to check out my blood sugar levels with that program. His idea was that in the past there have been cases where elders are diagnosed too late for any treatment and he thought that since elders are going to health centres, is there a program...They’re probably getting blood tests to start counting their white blood cells or even institute a cancer clinic for elders, Mr. Speaker. Is there such a system in our health care system right now that can provide for this service? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Ms. Lee.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am pleased to advise the House that in the Foundation for Change Action Plan we have a precise action identified in this area. One is to establish a chronic disease management model for the NWT which would work to upgrade the screening program for chronic diseases including diabetes, heart disease and cancers. We will also be looking to address colorectal cancer through staged screening of stool samples. We will also be looking at implementing a territorial screening mammography program and increase education about modifiable risk factors and screening.
I’m pleased to see that they’re going to provide some resources in the upcoming year, in the 2010 budget year. Currently, what practices are being used with regard to screening for cancers or chronic diseases, as the Minister has indicated? Thank you.
I should note that that action plan, the timeline for that is it’s a three-year plan to expand our work in all of these areas. Currently, we do have a screening program for breast cancer, we do have a screening program for colorectal cancer, prostate cancer and also, obviously, our health care staff in all our regions do their best to respond when the residents do come and raise their health issues.
What type of modelling would the new program be based on? I had indicated the diabetes model. It’s quite successful. It’s quite visual. It sets up at Northern Stores, et cetera, in the smaller communities. Is this something similar that they would be pursuing in this new program that’s going to be rolling out next year? Thank you.
This plan will be released next week and there are three important pillars in this plan. One of them is accessibility. What we are wanting to do and what we recognize is that Northerners need to be able to access the right health care and know where and how to find it. We want to focus our attention on a primary community care model where focus and attention will be on each community, and in each community we will work to establish a chronic management program that is organized, that is comprehensive, so that we keep track of diabetes, heart disease and cancer, and we step up to the plate on screening. We are already doing that, but not in as comprehensive a way as this will allow us to do.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. Final supplementary, Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I think the intent or the idea is, of course, to prevent cases where somebody comes in at the last minute with a chronic disease and/or specifically cancer which is untreatable and it leads to tragic consequences.
In the smaller communities I could probably foresee visits just specific to this issue as opposed to doing regular medical visits. Is that something in the plan, Mr. Speaker? Thank you.
I am aware that we have done such a program, especially for colorectal cancer screening. In fact, the focus was in the Deh Cho region where a coordinator went in to the region and worked with the men in the area, and encouraged everybody to go through the screening as a preventative measure. So that’s the kind of thing that we hope to be able to do more of in this new plan.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Member for Nunakput, Mr. Jacobson.
