Ottawa Has No H1N1 Plan For Metis: Chartrand

Ottawa Has No H1N1 Plan For Metis: Chartrand

Wednesday, September 16, 2009 at 12:48

 

 

The Metis National Council says Ottawa is not doing enough to protect over 300,000 Metis citizens from the H1N1 flu virus.

 

David Chartrand, the MNC’s minister of health, says that while many Metis face the same amount of risk as First Nations and Inuit people from H1N1, there is no specific pandemic plan to assist their communities.

 

Chartrand says he raised the Metis Nation’s concerns with federal health minister Leona Aglukkaq over a month ago, but she still has not responded.

 

Meanwhile, a northern Saskatchewan nurse says taking the advice of elders and using traditional medicine could come in handy during the second wave of the H1N1 flu virus.

 

Nancy Dorion is a registered nurse with 28 years experience, and a member of the John Cochrane First Nation.

 

Dorion will give general information about the H1N1 virus this afternoon at the L.C.A. Hall in Cumberland House.

 

Dorion says residents who want to use traditional medicine need to remember to follow protocol when doing so, and heed the advice of elders.

 

She says there are a lot of elders in the Cumberland House region who likely remember the last time the community went through a pandemic.

 

Dorion adds there is no guarantee the health care system will be able to cope with all the cases, so it’s important that people get as much information as they can.