Tribal council rallies forces

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The HIV/AIDS epidemic is a global health problem, not something that any First Nation or tribal council can or should have to tackle alone, especially with the limited health care funding available today.

Pooling resources to deliver HIV/AIDS specific health services became the goal of the Battleford Tribal Council Health Services in 1999. A practical, hands-on outreach to the Aboriginal communities of central Saskatchewan that would bring STD expertise right onto the reserves.

"There are 72 First Nations in Saskatchewan, each allotted an annual $1,900 in funding from Medical Services of Health Canada to specifically address HIV/AIDS. Enough to do a one day urban or regional workshop. Realistically speaking, what could you really accomplish in that amount of time?" said Janice Kennedy, executive director of the BTCHS.

A Regional Project to develop a First Nations Mobile HIV/AIDS Sexual Team using the pooled resources of agency chiefs and tribal councils including Yorkton TC, Saskatoon TC, Touchwood Qu'appelle, Onion Lake, Thunderchild, Beardy's, Joseph Bighead, Okamasis and several other groups, resulted in a five-month outreach project that proved to be very effective and insightful.

"We were fortunate enough to be able to hire a health nurse specialist employed in a STD clinic in Prince Albert along with a health education liaison person to spearhead the Mobile Sexual Health Team. They were able to provide training and HIV/AIDS information to community workers in both urban and reserve clinics. Over the five month period, the health team was able to make contact with 47 different agencies including Child and Family District Services, Corrections, high schools, HIV/AIDS clients, Saskatchewan Health and Penitentiary plus a large number of bands," explained Kennedy.

Staff members traveled around central Saskatchewan, setting up clinics and workshops, using urban and reserve health clinic as the host facilities. Services in the clinics included anonymous testing for HIV/AIDS, STD, Hepatitis, BBP (blood born pathogens), clamydia, contact tracing, referrals to doctors, clinics and returns for testing results.

Healthy lifestyle counselling, including condom use to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS, was an important component of workshops given to teens and adults, both urban and on-reserve.

The results of the five-month series of clinics and workshops shed some surprising new light and cultural insights on the AIDS/HIV problem among First Nations people in Saskatchewan, said Kennedy.

"We had very mixed reactions from the different bands. Some saw us as very positive. They were comfortable with us and wanted to be able to effectively address the health needs of their band members. We were culturally accepted. Others however, didn't even want us on their reserve, not even to hand out condoms and information. We discovered that there is a real uniqueness in the different communities. Some are ready to face it and some are not," she said.

Windspeaker asked Kennedy if HIV/AIDS was perceived as a real health threat and priority among Aboriginal people in Saskatchewan.

"It is my opinion, as someone working in the health field, that the type of services offered by the mobile sexual health team, are not yet a high priority among First Nations people, not like diabetes, kidney dialysis, arthritis or heart disease. But that may soon change because of the high increase in STD which in a few years could become a major epidemic among our Native people. This is what I have heard and seen attending workshops and clinics. That we are just beginning to see the implications of HIV/AIDS and that people just beginning to want more information and education. Rarely, do we ever have them phoning us for a workshop on HIV/AIDS.

"Right now it is just not seen a lot yet on the reserves, but that too is slowly changing. When one or two people come back to their communities after living in an urban environment and they are dying of AIDS or make it nown that they have HIV, that's where we begin to get requests for information. It just doesn't seem to be a priority yet even though the number of sexually transmitted diseases has risen," said Kennedy.

Results just recently released from a 1998 BTCHS-specific survey done among a cross-section of its membership, show HIV/AIDS was not even perceived among the top eight health problems confronting Aboriginal people in Saskatchewan.

The chilling reality is far different, according to Kennedy.

"There has been a dramatic increase in the number of AIDS cases reported between 1995 and 1997, from nine up to 20, with most of the new cases among women and IV drug users. We cannot tell if the rising statistics are urban or reserve based because most testing is done in urban clinics. The reality is that many individuals can live for 10 to 15 years with HIV virus and it is imperative that we continue to develop strategies like the mobile outreach clinics for optimal care, support and prevention. We haven't seen a connection yet between suicide and HIV/AIDS among Aboriginal youth. Culturally speaking, we try to focus on "Healthy Choices" rather than the HIV/AIDS virus. Like making sure that you wear a condom every time you have sex,", she said.

HIV/AIDS is not perceived as a health problem among Native and Métis Elders, according to statistics from the program.

"Elders don't address the HIV/AIDS problem directly. They approach it in a different way as part of their teaching. They don't talk about the negative implications of having unprotected sex. They talk to youth about respecting their own bodies, respecting your own health. They teach the young girls to respect themselves as women and not sleep around with everybody. They approach a healthy lifestyle in a different way but the result is the same in the end," Kennedy said.

"What we are getting now are phone calls from couples, one having tested positive for HIV/AIDS and both needing counselling."