Ottawa — President of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, Natan Obed, and the Minister of Indigenous Services, Patty Hajdu, issued the following statement: “Tuberculosis (TB) can be eliminated with joint efforts and partnerships between Inuit leaders, Inuit communities, and federal, provincial, and territorial governments. Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK), the national representational organization for Inuit in Canada, and the Government of Canada are continuing to work toward eliminating TB from Inuit Nunangat by 2030.
TB disproportionately affects Inuit and Inuit communities. Between 2015 and 2019, the reported incidence rate of active TB disease among Inuit living in Inuit Nunangat was 300 times the rate among the Canadian-born, non-Indigenous population. These high rates of TB across Inuit Nunangat reflect the socioeconomic disparities—like overcrowded housing, food insecurity, barriers to health care, and poverty—between Inuit and other populations in Canada and are the result of the ongoing impacts of colonization on health. The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated the importance of tailored Inuit-led public health interventions and the critical role of Inuit representational organizations during public health crises. TB is severe, but it is preventable and curable.
In 2018, the Government of Canada and ITK committed to work together to eliminate TB from Inuit Nunangat by 2030. The Government of Canada’s initial investment of $27.5 million has funded the development and implementation of TB elimination action plans that are specific to each of the four regions of Inuit Nunangat: Inuvialuit Settlement Region, Nunavut, Nunavik, and Nunatsiavut. To achieve our goal to eliminate TB in Inuit Nunangat by 2030, the Government of Canada and Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami pledge to do all we can.”