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A new report highlighting the high risk of cancer facing Inuit in Ontario is a “call to action,” says Jason LeBlanc, executive director of the Ottawa Inuit organization that produced the report, along with Cancer Care Ontario.
The report, which is the first to take a comprehensive look at cancer risk factors among Inuit outside of the North, found, among other things, that Inuit living in Ottawa and other parts of Ontario have significantly higher risk factors for some cancers than non-Aboriginal residents.
About 27 per cent of the 599,460 people who identify themselves as Inuit in Canada live outside of the Inuit Nunangat, which includes Nunavut, northern Quebec, northeastern Labrador and western Northwest Territories. There are an estimated 5,500 Inuit living in Ontario, with the highest concentration in Ottawa. It is one of the youngest and fastest-growing subpopulations in the country.
High rates of smoking, in particular, make Inuit more likely to develop lung cancer than the rest of the population.
Inuit in the North have high smoking rates and the highest lung cancer rates in the world. Among Inuit living in the south, smoking rates are not as high, but are still well above average.
More than one-third of Inuit living outside of the North report smoking daily or occasionally, compared to about one-quarter of non-Aboriginal Ontarians. Smoking rates were highest among women. Forty one per cent of Inuit women in Ontario smoke.
LeBlanc said smoking cessation programs that are designed for the community are important. He also noted high rates of smoking and alcohol use are often a symptom of poor underlying health and wellness.
“If we could get people to modify their smoking, we could see a very real impact.”
Inuit in the North are more likely to be diagnosed with lung and colorectal cancer than in the rest of Canada and less likely to be diagnosed with breast and prostate cancer.
The report also found that a large portion of Inuit living outside of the North also experience food insecurity. In Nunangat, less than 50 per cent of Inuit live in a household they would describe as food-secure.
In Ontario, only two-thirds of Inuit households reported living in a food-secure household (meaning they have access to healthy food), compared with 94 per cent of non-Aboriginal respondents.
LeBlanc said access to healthy food is only part of the problem. An additional problem for Inuit living in the south, he said, is lack of access to so-called country food, such as caribou and char, food that is hunted, fished and gathered by Inuit in the North.
Not only is that food healthy, he said, but it also fulfils a social and spiritual hunger among Inuit.
Organizations in Ottawa that provide food for the Inuit community offer lessons and information about healthy foods available in the south, and also provide access to traditional foods from the North.
LeBlanc called food insecurity among Inuit living in the south a “red flag” for community organizations.
A healthy diet is considered one of the modifiable risk factors for cancer, as is alcohol use, which is higher among Inuit in the south, and cancer screening, which is lower among Inuit.
Until recently, the commonly used word for cancer in Inuktitut meant “disease without a cure,” according to the report called Cancer Risk Factors and Screening Among Inuit in Ontario and Other Canadian Regions.
But new words have developed for cancer, including one that means “something you do not feel until after the fact,” according to the report.
“This change in vocabulary reflects a shift in how people view cancer — it has gone from being an incurable disease to a condition that can be prevented and managed in a way that ensures a better quality of life.”
The lack of proper Inuktitut terminology helped add to the fear and stigma around cancer. That is changing with new information about cancer among Inuit in the North.
The just-released report by Tungasuvvingat Inuit and Cancer Care Ontario is helping to add to knowledge about Inuit in the rest of Canada, said LeBlanc, but more work is needed.
epayne@postmedia.com
查看原文...
The report, which is the first to take a comprehensive look at cancer risk factors among Inuit outside of the North, found, among other things, that Inuit living in Ottawa and other parts of Ontario have significantly higher risk factors for some cancers than non-Aboriginal residents.
About 27 per cent of the 599,460 people who identify themselves as Inuit in Canada live outside of the Inuit Nunangat, which includes Nunavut, northern Quebec, northeastern Labrador and western Northwest Territories. There are an estimated 5,500 Inuit living in Ontario, with the highest concentration in Ottawa. It is one of the youngest and fastest-growing subpopulations in the country.
High rates of smoking, in particular, make Inuit more likely to develop lung cancer than the rest of the population.
Inuit in the North have high smoking rates and the highest lung cancer rates in the world. Among Inuit living in the south, smoking rates are not as high, but are still well above average.
More than one-third of Inuit living outside of the North report smoking daily or occasionally, compared to about one-quarter of non-Aboriginal Ontarians. Smoking rates were highest among women. Forty one per cent of Inuit women in Ontario smoke.
LeBlanc said smoking cessation programs that are designed for the community are important. He also noted high rates of smoking and alcohol use are often a symptom of poor underlying health and wellness.
“If we could get people to modify their smoking, we could see a very real impact.”
Inuit in the North are more likely to be diagnosed with lung and colorectal cancer than in the rest of Canada and less likely to be diagnosed with breast and prostate cancer.
The report also found that a large portion of Inuit living outside of the North also experience food insecurity. In Nunangat, less than 50 per cent of Inuit live in a household they would describe as food-secure.
In Ontario, only two-thirds of Inuit households reported living in a food-secure household (meaning they have access to healthy food), compared with 94 per cent of non-Aboriginal respondents.
LeBlanc said access to healthy food is only part of the problem. An additional problem for Inuit living in the south, he said, is lack of access to so-called country food, such as caribou and char, food that is hunted, fished and gathered by Inuit in the North.
Not only is that food healthy, he said, but it also fulfils a social and spiritual hunger among Inuit.
Organizations in Ottawa that provide food for the Inuit community offer lessons and information about healthy foods available in the south, and also provide access to traditional foods from the North.
LeBlanc called food insecurity among Inuit living in the south a “red flag” for community organizations.
A healthy diet is considered one of the modifiable risk factors for cancer, as is alcohol use, which is higher among Inuit in the south, and cancer screening, which is lower among Inuit.
Until recently, the commonly used word for cancer in Inuktitut meant “disease without a cure,” according to the report called Cancer Risk Factors and Screening Among Inuit in Ontario and Other Canadian Regions.
But new words have developed for cancer, including one that means “something you do not feel until after the fact,” according to the report.
“This change in vocabulary reflects a shift in how people view cancer — it has gone from being an incurable disease to a condition that can be prevented and managed in a way that ensures a better quality of life.”
The lack of proper Inuktitut terminology helped add to the fear and stigma around cancer. That is changing with new information about cancer among Inuit in the North.
The just-released report by Tungasuvvingat Inuit and Cancer Care Ontario is helping to add to knowledge about Inuit in the rest of Canada, said LeBlanc, but more work is needed.
epayne@postmedia.com
查看原文...
