Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier I made a comment on acknowledging the National Cervical Cancer Awareness Week. I’d just like to follow up on it. Perhaps in a sense, maybe for some to talk openly about what happens, perhaps it’s an uncomfortable matter, but I think for a case like this talking about it, raising awareness is the mission, especially for the public out there in the Northwest Territories when we have lots of cases of cancer.
So my question is to the Minister of Health and Social Services. How are young people in the Northwest Territories taught the basics of sexual health, including the information on the human papilloma virus and cervical cancer? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Nadli. The Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Department of Health does a lot of work in the cancer area, and the department has developed a cancer awareness and response strategy that was funded during this fiscal year, and we have been doing work in various areas under the chief public health officer. I guess that’s how we’re trying to respond to the cancer awareness. Thank you.
Thank you. What about adults? In our health system, how do we make sure that adults know about the human papilloma virus and cervical cancer? Thank you.
Thank you. I see the HPV advertisements on the television, I notice that they’re put on by the Nunavut government and I don’t know that the Government of the Northwest Territories has the same type of campaign for HPV. But I know that awareness of the types of cancer that we find most prevalent are the ones that we’re trying to campaign as in colorectal, prostate and lung cancer for men, and colorectal, lung and breast cancer for women. Thank you.
It is rather disappointing that we’re not making the same effort as our colleagues in Nunavut. Why are the human papilloma virus screening rates lower among Aboriginal women and lower in regional centres and small communities than in Yellowknife? Mahsi.
I’m assuming that the Member has the information that those rates of exams or tests are lower than in the larger centres. I don’t have that information here. I think the standard, when we try to do cancer awareness or try to do early detection, is to try to do something that’s standard across the territory, except for in situations where communities are considered to have a spike in cancer rates in their specific communities. We try to work with those communities to look at all the cancer rates, but the standard is that we are supposed to be applying the same across the Territories regardless of the size of the community. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
