Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, Members. Yellowknife residents recently participated in the Run for a Cure. They raised funds for a mammogram machine for the Stanton Regional Hospital. The mammogram machine's cost are in excess of $150,000 and will assist in the early detection of breast cancer. Seventy-five percent of the money raised by the Run goes towards the purchase of the new machine.
Mr. Speaker, with such an important diagnosing machine to diagnose cancer at an early stage, I will ask this government if they can assist in the fund-raising effort for this needed machine.
Mr. Speaker, within my region people are talking. We know how important oral tradition is in our society. What is being said is that too many of our people are dying of cancer. It seems that we have a higher than normal incidence of cancer, and it also seems that the number of cases are increasing. Each year we learn of more people being diagnosed with cancer. We watch our friends, relatives and loved ones succumb to this horrible disease and we have to wonder.
We question why people in our communities are not being diagnosed early enough or properly. People are sent south for medical evaluation but return with no diagnosis. It is only when it is too late that we find they have cancer. Within our communities, there are barriers between medical professionals and the patients. In addition, outside the seven or eight largest communities, physician services are only available on a visiting basis and are not frequent. Low literacy and use of terms that cannot be translated let alone explained can be a problem when dealing with elders. Preventative health in the form of educating our people on the risks, causes, signs and symptoms of cancer is a new concept in a lot of our communities. The people in my region want to know what is happening. They want to know if the government is aware of their concerns. They want to know if the rate of cancer is increasing and if it is, what is the cause of it?
It is the unknown facts on cancer that people fear the most. As a government, we have to address these unknowns and find the information for our residents. The information must be found so that we can find a cure for cancer. There has to be more information or time spent on detecting this crucial disease early. We must face this unknown so that families and the friends, who have lost loved ones, and the ones left behind, are not left wondering why. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
--Applause