Tuberculosis is a serious infectious disease that mainly affects the lungs, but it is preventable and curable. With the federal budget approaching, Inuit leaders and New Democrat MPs are urging the Trudeau government to tackle tuberculosis in Indigenous communities.
This has widened the gap and resulted in a tuberculosis rate among Inuit reported in 2021 that was 676 times that of Canadian-born non-Indigenous people, sayfrom May 2023. The documents say this may have worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic as public health resources were diverted from TB. "Obviously it's very frustrating, especially when our governments continue to talk about doing really great things with Indigenous communities."
Earlier this month, New Democrat members of Parliament raised concerns about a lack of vital medication and regulatory issues hindering efforts to fight tuberculosis.