Mr.

Speaker,

I have a Return to Written Question 12-16(2), asked of the Hon. Sandy Lee, Minister of Health and Social Services, by Mr. Beaulieu on May 23, 2008, regarding Tu Nedhe residents suffering from respiratory illnesses.

Community-level incidence rates for respiratory diseases are currently not available.

Asthma and other respiratory diseases are not reportable conditions. As a result, existing administrative data — health insurance registry, physician services, hospital discharge and community health centre data — is used to estimate the prevalence and incidence of certain diseases in the Northwest Territories.

This data provides the Department of Health and Social Services with broad indicators of disease-prevalence rates to direct program planning and evaluate outcomes.

Data provided by the nursing staff of the community health centres indicate that 20 individuals in Fort Resolution and five individuals in Lutselk’e are known to have a chronic respiratory disease. This reflects the number of individuals who visit the health centre for periodic assessment and management of their disease but cannot be used as absolute prevalence indicators.

While airborne dust particles can contribute to an increase in respiratory symptoms in individuals who have asthma or other respiratory illnesses, tobacco smoke remains the top environmental irritant affecting NWT residents with asthma and other respiratory illnesses