Health Canada Announcement
On January 1, 2003 Health Canada published new labeling requirements for most prepackaged foods.
Under the new regulations, food producers will be
required to include a Nutrition Facts table on their product labels. This table will have to declare the number of calories and the amount of fat, saturated and “trans” fats, cholesterol, sodium, carbohydrate, fiber, sugars, protein, vitamins A and C, calcium, and iron in a specified amount of food.Foods such as fresh fruit and vegetables, and raw unground meat and poultry are
exempted from the new requirements. Companies have up to three years to comply with the new labeling regulations, and small
businesses up to five years.The Nutrition Facts table will usually appear in a
standard format, and will be printed in clear type, making the information easy to find and read. Nutrition
information will be more complete and consistent than it is now. In addition, for the first time in Canada, food producers will be allowed to make health-related claims for their products, such as helping to reduce the risk of heart disease, cancer, osteoporosis and high blood
pressure.The new regulations will be the object of public
education campaigns, including one aimed specifically at First Nations consumers.It is hoped that this new labeling will help all Canadians make better and informed food choices. The cost of a poor diet in Canada is estimated to be around $6.3 billion annually, including direct health care costs of $1.8 billion.
For additional information, or to obtain copies of
Canada’s Food Guide to Healthy Eating, call
1-800-622-6232 or 1-800-465-7735, or visit www.healthcanada.ca/nutritionlabellingFrom the Northwest Territories
On January 22, Ethel Blondin-Andrew, Secretary of State for Children and Youth, announced on behalf of the Honourable Anne McLellan,
Minister of Health, that Health Canada is
contributing up to $436,177 to the WestNet
Tele-Ophthalmology Project, managed by the Government of the Northwest Territories.The WestNet Tele-Ophthalmology Project was created to help screen Northwest Territories
people who have diabetes for early signs of the retinal deterioration that can lead to blindness. Trained eye technicians from the Eye Centre of the Stanton Territorial Health Authority in Yellowknife are using portable stereoscopic
digital imaging equipment to create retinal
images that will be forwarded to specialists at
the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Edmonton for
analysis and treatment recommendations.“This project ensures that more Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal residents of remote northern
communities are tested regularly for diabetic
retinopathy, a condition that, if left untreated,
leads to blindness,” said Secretary of State Blondin-Andrew. “This reflects the Government of Canada’s commitment to work collaboratively with provinces and territories to make new
technologies a regular way of delivering health services to all Canadians, no matter where they live,” she added.
Source: www.hc-sc.gc.ca
Retirement in Ontario
Emily Gregg, of Kasabonika First Nation in Northern
Ontario, retired in November 2002 after 33 years of
service to her community as a CHR. Emily started helping her community in 1966 as a volunteer First Aid attendant, at the urging of the nurse at the nursing station in Sioux Lookout. In 1969, after watching several babies die from gastroenteritis and diarrhea, she committed herself to the CHR training, because she wanted to be able to treat more serious conditions than cuts and bruises.Emily says the experience of being a CHR in the community was quite different from the training, in the sense that real life involved many more responsibilities. Kasabonika is an isolated community, accessible only by plane even today. There was no doctor, and a nurse might fly in about twice a year. So Emily was alone to look after the clinic, see patients, give out medications, handle emergencies, even deliver babies! It was challenging work, but she
enjoyed it.Emily has three children, eleven grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren. She likes to travel, and she hopes
to attend NIICHRO’s next Annual General Meeting in
Ottawa next June.Emily, congratulations on a long and full career, and thank you for all your work and your service as a NIICHRO board member. Enjoy your well-deserved retirement!
News from Manitoba
Julie Chalmers, CHR and Manitoba Board
Member for NIICHRO, had the opportunity to
attend the Third National Conference on
Tobacco or Health on December 1-4, 2002 in Ottawa. This is what she reported:“The conference allowed us to celebrate our successes and support each other in our challenges to improve the health of all Canadians. I’m sure we left the conference with a renewed sense of confidence in our ability to reduce tobacco use. The conference offered presentations each day that identified and provided an overview of the critical issues affecting tobacco control.
In most First Nations, tobacco holds a traditional and honored role when used for ceremonies and in a spiritual role. We have to educate our people on where tradition ends and addiction begins. Our leadership has to join us in developing a strategy and take responsibility to decrease the uptake of smoking among our youth. Smoking isn’t just a bad habit, it’s a serious addiction.”
News from Nunavut
A new treatment centre for the mentally ill opened in Iqaluit in January. Previously, mentally ill individuals who were off their medications or causing disturbances could only be sent to the Baffin Correctional Centre, or transferred out of town.
Staff at the new centre provide 24-hour care, meals, and a safe place to stay for 10 people. They can live at the Akausisarvik Centre for up to six months and longer, while receiving help with their illness.
The new facility now has 20 employees, including psychiatric staff. Eighty per cent of the employees are Inuit.
Source: CBC News
Newfoundland (Labrador)
Last December, Innu families from the troubled island community of Davis Inlet began relocating to new homes – and hopefully, new lives – across the strait in the newly constructed town of Natuashish (Little Sango Pond), approximately 15 km west of Davis Inlet. Some 30 homes were ready, with another 20 to be ready in January. Construction of the new town began in 1997.
This historic resettlement, expected to be completed in March, will allow 680 Innu to escape deplorable living conditions in Davis Inlet. Some 100 Innu were relocated to Davis Inlet in 1967. It proved to be an unsuitable site for a rapidly growing community, as they were unable to access productive hunting, fishing, and trapping grounds on the mainland for some five months a year, and had virtually no alternative economic activities.
The resulting deterioration of their social fabric came to world attention in the early 1990s, after several tragedies struck the community’s children. This prompted action by the community and the federal government, and various initiatives and studies were undertaken to strengthen the community’s ability to deal with its problems and to assess the suitability of the proposed new town site. Natuashish is a traditional site of the Innu, and they voted to relocate there in a 1993 community referendum. Ten years later, their wish is at last becoming a reality.
