UN Hears About Indigenous TB Rates

UN Hears About Indigenous TB Rates

Wednesday, April 23, 2008 at 14:49

The Assembly of First Nations is one of several groups making a presentation to the UN in New York today about tuberculosis rates in the Indigenous population.

The AFN, the World Health Organization, and the International Union Against TB and Lung Disease say tuberculosis is still a global crisis.

They’re putting forward a resolution calling on organizations responsible for TB monitoring to be made accountable to the global community in terms of taking action.

The organizations note that it’s possible to lower the prevalance of TB by addressing the conditions that cause it to spread — such as overcrowded housing, poverty, and a lack of access to medical care.

In Canada, tuberculosis has been virtually wiped out — except in the Aboriginal population, where the rates of infection are 30 times higher than in the mainstream population.