Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister of Health and Social Services. One need only turn on their television lately and watch the news and we will hear about the resurgence of diseases, such as measles, that we had not for many years heard of because of the extensive immunization and vaccination programs that were available through public health.
I’d like to specifically now zero in on the Northwest Territories and ask the Minister if there have been any new cases or have there been any diseases or infections that have surfaced which are related to the immunization or lack thereof. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Minister of Health, Mr. Abernethy.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Actually, I had a conversation with the deputy minister and the chief public health officer just recently about that exact topic, and the public health officer did confirm to me that there are no cases of things like measles in the Northwest Territories.
We actually have a very high rate of immunizations here in the Northwest Territories. Obviously, we want to continue to immunize as much as possible, so I really appreciate this opportunity to speak to the Members as well as to the residents of the Northwest Territories and just reiterate a comment that the Member made, that over the past 50 years vaccines have saved more lives worldwide than any other public health intervention. Vaccinations are incredibly important and we’re committed to working with our residents to get every resident vaccinated in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Now to the issue of whether vaccination immunization is mandatory or voluntary.
At what point does this immunization occur? Now, from having had children myself, I know that the public health nurse, in those days, was involved in this. But how do we track or follow or determine what the uptake of vaccination immunization is and who delivers the actual service? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Early childhood vaccinations are typically administered through well child programs in health centres and public health centres throughout the Northwest Territories. At this time, I can say that our average coverage rates across the Northwest Territories for the publically funded early childhood vaccinations are between 77 percent and 89 percent, and this is roughly based on just the analysis of what the authorities are doing.
It is difficult to estimate more current or more accurate coverage rates in the absence of an information management system here in the Northwest Territories, but we are moving toward EMR, electronic medical records, which will give us real-time full information so we’ll be able to give the Members the exact uptake on vaccinations here in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Given that some of these diseases that can be prevented through immunization and vaccination are highly contagious, I would like to suggest to the Minister that it would be good if our real data that we can get our hands on would indicate a higher rate of uptake than what he has indicated here today in the House.
I’d like to ask the Minister, is he aware of any resistance to people receiving this service, or would this be more from lack of awareness or knowledge of the immunization and vaccination? Are these numbers reflective of people who would resist having those services for their children? Thank you.
As I indicated, we can report 77 percent to 89 percent and that’s based on the data that has been collected. Without real territory-wide electronic medical records, a real solid information system across the Northwest Territories, it does prove difficult to get 100 percent accurate information, which is why we’re moving in that direction so we can give the Members the exact totals.
I do believe, and I do feel, that our immunization rates are higher than this. We haven’t received, and I haven’t had any, strong pushback on vaccination. The early childhood programs are proving to be quite effective. We are also promoting the need and trying to dispel some of the myths around immunizations and vaccines during the National Immunization Awareness Week, which is usually in April. So we try to get out as much information as we can, but we haven’t had a real strong pushback on immunizations here in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Final, short supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to ask the Minister if, in his knowledge and experience, there’s more that we could be doing to promote awareness and uptake on vaccination and immunization. Is there more that we should or could be doing as the Government of the Northwest Territories? Thank you.
Considering that the immunization rates in the Northwest Territories are considered high compared to some of the other jurisdictions, I think that’s fantastic, but at the same time, we could always do more. I think it’s dialogue in rooms like this and other rooms, in your constituency meetings, in our health centres, every time we have an opportunity to speak about vaccines and the value and how, as the Member has indicated, they have saved more lives in the last 50 years than any other intervention program, it’s the dialogue that’s important. When you have somebody or you know somebody who is concerned about vaccinations, point them to their health practitioners, who can give them the real information they will need to make an informed decision.
If we’re going to make a bigger difference, it’s about dialogue, conversation and encouraging people to get the right information from credible, reliable sources. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Member for Range Lake, Mr. Dolynny.
