Thread by @cbcnewsbc

Officials provide update on systemic racism report in B.C.'s healthcare system pscp.tv/w/cuscKjEyOTUw…

Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond: The evidence shows that Indigenous people in B.C. are receiving services that is skewed away from primary, preventative care, and pushes them to secondary or tertiary care and treatment.

Turpel-Lafond: The inadequacy of B.C.'s primary care system is evident. There's a high burden of disease amongst Indigenous people in B.C. First Nations people, in particular, among all ages have comparatively lower attachment rates to GPs and nurse practitioners.

Turpel-Lafond: Vulnerable pop. of Indigenous peoples 65+, who often most need routine care - these elders are not attached to primary care, at a rate of 89 per cent higher than non-First Nations people. "That, in fact, is quite a staggering finding."

Turpel-Lafond: Poor access to primary care may be driving the lower screening rates for treatable cancers among Indigenous people. Ex: Pap screening among Indigenous women is 68% of that of non-Indigenous women.

Turpel-Lafond: We are seeing in B.C. cases where First Nations moms show up to deliver infants without having had pre-natal care or having had less pre-natal care than other women in the province.

Turpel-Lafond: First Nations female death rate due to opioid overdoses in 2020 was almost twice as high as that of non-Indigenous women.

Turpel-Lafond: In the COVID-19 pandemic, First Nations women are over-represented in the number of confirmed First Nations COVID-19 cases.

Turpel-Lafond: Our reports present evidence of the impacts of racism, and the need for immediate, principled and comprehensive evidence-based efforts to combat that racism.

Turpel-Lafond: We must maintain a strong focus on this work in British Columbia because the health care system in B.C. is a much different experience if you’re an Indigenous person than if you’re a non-Indigenous person.

Turpel-Lafond: 1-800 number and email are open to receive concerns from people about Indigenous-specific racism in the health-care system. Will be open until a Indigenous health representative and advocate position is filled.

Adrian Dix: We will address systemic racism in our health care system and root out its deeply damaging effects.

Dix: People are tired of reports and tired of reviews and they want to see action.

Dix: Immediate steps: providing funding for 5 new Indigenous health liaisons positions to be added in each authority as well as Providence Health Care.

Dix: We'll make sure that each health authority board has at least 2 Indigenous members.

-The 1-800 number and email will remain open
- Don Thomas has been appointed as the new associate deputy minister of Indigenous health (a role recommended in the report)