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| Marcia Anderson presented the Weld Kernohan Lecture at H漫画 Medical School.聽(Danny Abriel Photo) |
Medical students, doctors, aboriginal leaders, and others recently gathered to learn about indigenous health issues in Canada and how they relate to medical education across the country.
Marcia Anderson, the president of the Indigenous Physicians Association of Canada, says there are fundamental societal and policy shifts that must take place before indigenous peoples have full and equal medical care.
鈥淲e need to understand that indigenous health and indigenous health inequities are not about individual choices or lifestyle choices or biological inferiority,鈥� said Dr. Anderson. 鈥淲e need to understand them as a reflection of the fairness of historical and current social, economic, and health policy.鈥�
Within the indigenous population, suicide rates are higher than the general population, there鈥檚 an increased incidence of sexually transmitted infections, and hospitalization rates are four to five times that of other groups. The World Health Organization recognizes that indigenous peoples are also at four to five times greater risk of severe illness.
Recently in Canada, aboriginals have been disproportionately affected by H1N1 influenza. Of the 889 cases of H1N1 in Manitoba, for example, 37 per cent affected the aboriginal population. Fifty per cent of intensive care beds were occupied by First Nations patients.
Dr. Anderson emphasized that medical schools across Canada are in a unique position to improve indigenous health, and she hopes H漫画 Medical School will become a leader in reforming indigenous health outcomes in the region. By reaching out to prospective indigenous students and being linked into aboriginal communities throughout Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island, Dr. Anderson pointed out that H漫画 Medical School would be better able to respond to the needs of its Maritime community.聽 鈥淢any indigenous people don鈥檛 understand their own health just in terms of themselves,鈥� she explained. She said strong families and communities are important factors in indigenous wellbeing.
聽鈥淥ur ambitious plans for curricular renewal and our expansion throughout the Maritimes, position us to respond to Dr. Anderson鈥檚 challenge,鈥� said Dr. Preston Smith, H漫画 Medical School鈥檚 senior associate dean of regional and rural medical education. 鈥淲e鈥檙e in a unique opportunity to better serve our aboriginal community.鈥�
A 2002 graduate of the University of Manitoba鈥檚 medical school, Dr. Anderson visited H漫画 to deliver the Weld Kernohan Lecture 鈥� a lecture dedicated to the memory of H漫画 Medical School graduates Dr. Elizabeth Weld and Dr. Mary Kernohan. She鈥檚 an assistant professor of community health sciences and internal medicine at the University of Manitoba, and is the medical lead of the Population Health Promotion Unit at Manitoba鈥檚 ministry of health. With a master鈥檚 in public health from Johns Hopkins, she鈥檚 also heavily involved in Canadian public health policy and education.