Mr. Speaker, as this Assembly is aware, cancer is the number one cause of death in the Northwest Territories. Lung cancer causes the greatest number of cancer deaths, but the most commonly diagnosed cancers are colorectal cancer in men and breast cancer in women.
When I travel to communities, this is one of the biggest concerns that people talk to me about. Our communities want to understand this disease better, and people want to know what actions they can take to change these trends.
Mr. Speaker, today representatives from the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer are in Yellowknife to meet with Health and Social Services officials and invited community guests to talk about the First Nations, Inuit and Metis Action Plan on Cancer Control.
The Canadian Partnership Against Cancer is an independent organization that works to implement Canada’s cancer control strategy, from looking at improving prevention and screening, to conducting research and improving supportive care. Today’s meetings build on our past collaboration with this organization. Over the years the partnership has supported our healthy choices programs such as Drop the Pop. They have provided technical support to the Department and Authorities. More recently, Mr. Speaker, we turned to this organization to help us respond to requests from Fort Good Hope and Fort Resolution to help them take action against cancer.
The purpose of today’s meeting is to discuss the implementation of the First Nations, Inuit and Metis Action Plan on Cancer Control, and explore opportunities for further collaborative work.
Part of the discussions with CPAC will include a review of some of the NWT’s cancer-based initiatives. This will include looking at how we implement our cancer screening programs against colorectal, cervical and breast cancer. This will help to identify priority areas where they can support our initiatives.
Mr. Speaker, we are looking for ways to provide information on cancer to communities, and looking at how we can provide better support to individuals and families affected by cancer. We must continue to prevent cancers, where possible, through regular testing at health centres and through healthy lifestyle choices, including proper diets, exercise and avoiding drugs and alcohol.
Moving forward, we will continue to build on lessons learned from last summer’s cancer sharing circles in Fort Resolution and Fort Good Hope. I am pleased that both of these reports have been shared with communities and remain available on the department’s website.
We are also pleased that Canadian Partnership Against Cancer will return in June. This will be the first time their board of directors meet in the Northwest Territories. We look forward to hosting the board as they advance their important work to reduce the burden of cancer for all Canadians.
Mr. Speaker, today we have with us Dr. Adams and Ms. Lee Fairclough. Thank you.