Quebec Minister of Health says that the Province’s Public Health Service is “closely monitoring” the number of tuberculosis cases in Nunavik, following a letter from the mayors of the 14 Inuit communities in the region requesting the declaration of a public health emergency.
“We take this situation very seriously,” said the office of the Minister of Health, Christian Dubé, to CBC News. “We will continue following the recommendations of public health experts on this subject.”
Public health experts who spoke with CBC News said that they face the shortage of resources and that they need help to properly address the growing number of active tuberculosis cases in the region. The Quebec Department of Health told CBC that as of June 7, there have been 56 cases so far this year of tuberculosis reported in Nunavik, even more than the 40 cases that the mayors of the region referred to in their letter.
Six Nunavik communities currently have tuberculosis outbreaks, and the region is on the way to establishing a gloomy record for the third consecutive year on the number of cases in the region, said Yassen Tcholakov, the clinical leader of infectious diseases for the Regional Board of Social Health and Services of Nunavik.
“We have rates that are comparable to countries with more [tuberculosis]. If you take certain communities in isolation, these rates are comparable to the most serious environment in countries that have extremely minimal health resources, “he said.
He said that tuberculosis, although treatable, kills most patients infected in a few years if they are not treated. Treaties sometimes stay with life problems like scars in their lungs.
If nothing changes, expect the number of cases in Nunavik to continue growing.
“When I listen to people who ask for a public health emergency, I listen to a cry of help, and an observation that the health system is not reaching the expectation of what the population would like to see,” Tcholakov said.
In a separate statement to CBC News, the Ministère de la Santé et des Services Sociaux du Québec said it has mobilized equipment to determine the best way to track Mayors requests made Monday.
Neither the minister nor the department committed themselves in their statements to declare a public health emergency. The department wrote that it takes “the time carefully analyze the situation” before acting.
“We are aware that the increase in cases of tuberculosis adds to numerous challenges [Nunavik] Faces regarding access to quality, attention and continuous and safe services, “said the department.
Quebec am14:13The regional government of Kativik and the mayors of Nunavik ask for public health emergency on cases of tuberculosis
The member of the Executive Committee of the Regional Government of Kativik, Maggie Emudluk, speaks with Quebec Am, Julia Caron, about the outbreak of tuberculosis in that region
Faiz Ahmad Khan, a breath of the Health Center of the University of McGill that also works in the health centers of the Nunavik communities of Puirnituq and Kuujjuaq, said there has been a “chronic shortage” of medical resources in general in Nunavik for years, a problem that also impacts the response of tuberculosis.
“I think the mayors have raised a very legitimate demand,” he said, with respect to the call to a public health emergency. This statement would give health centers the ability to request the resources they need, he said.
Khan said that the shortage of resources means that sometimes whole families have to fly only to be examined by the disease. In some communities, people also have to fly only to obtain an radiography to be diagnosed. All that delays treatment.
“Unfortunately, I am very worried that there may be more deaths on the horizon of [tuberculosis] – Which is totally unacceptable in Quebec in 2025, “he said.
