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Federal government press release

Parliamentary Secretary Fletcher Announces More than $15 Million for the Creation of an Aboriginal Health Research Network

For immediate release- 2008-01

WINNIPEG (January 22, 2008) - Today the Government of Canada announced an investment of $15.8 million over three years through the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) to create the Network Environments for Aboriginal Health Research (NEAHR - http://www.cihr-irsc.gc.ca/e/35648.html). The announcement was made at the University of Manitoba by Steven Fletcher, MP for Charleswood-St. James-Assiniboia and Parliamentary Secretary for Health, on behalf of the Honourable Tony Clement, Minister of Health.

"The Government of Canada is prepared to take the steps necessary to improve the overall health of Aboriginal people and their access to health care services, which is why I am proud today to support this new research program which will translate into better health care in Aboriginal communities," said Mr. Fletcher. "Our Government believes that Canada's Aboriginal people should get the health care they need, when they need it. Since 2006, we continue to collaborate with our partners to develop initiatives that will work, including initiatives like Patient Wait Times Guarantees."

The overall health of Aboriginal people is significantly worse than the health of other Canadians. For example, the gap in life expectancy between Aboriginal and other Canadians is seven years; Aboriginal people are more likely than other Canadians to have hearing, sight and speech disabilities, and they experience significantly higher rates of diabetes and other diseases than the rest of Canadians. Some reasons for this are already known, some remain to be discovered through new research.

The NEAHR program will benefit Canada's Aboriginal people by helping to increase the impact of Aboriginal health research, and apply the research findings effectively to improve the health of First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples' health in Canada. The program will, for example:

- Enhance and develop the research environment between Universities and First Nations, Metis and Inuit communities and organizations;

- Support research that focuses on themes such as population health; health services; child health and development; and ethical issues in aboriginal health research; and

- Train more than 200 graduate students who are working a broad range of health issues, including such as mental health and addiction, food security, nutrition, diabetes, northern health issues, tobacco control, aboriginal youth suicide.

"The NEAHR grant will make it possible for First Nations students and communities to become more involved in research and present their findings at Canadian and international conferences. We believe the UM NEAHR Centre will be quite innovative under the excellent leadership of Dr. Cathy Cook, and look forward to the outcome, " said Ron Evans, Grand Chief of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs.

"Canada is leading the world in fostering an environment for advanced Aboriginal health research," said Dr. Jeff Reading, Scientific Director for the Canadian Institutes of Health Research's Institute of Aboriginal Peoples' Health. "This investment will establish a national network of health researchers from across Canada to work on health priorities identified within Aboriginal communities."

The Principal Investigator of the NEAHR grant and Director of the Aboriginal Health Education Centre is Dr. Catherine Cook, and Co-investigators on the NEAHR project include Dr. Judy Bartlett, from the Manitoba Metis Federation and Kathi Avery-Kinew from the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs.

"Through this investment by CIHR, we have the opportunity to build on the groundwork established through the CIHR-ACADRE grant, wherein we have achieved some significant successes in the development of research capacity in our communities," said Dr. Catherine Cook." "We anticipate that the collaborative partnerships with the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs and the Manitoba Metis Federation will generate opportunities to focus on building greater capacity to meet our health challenges through the sharing of knowledge that is inherent in our First Nations and Metis communities. We will also build on opportunities to collaborate with the Inuit community in our region."

"The University of Manitoba's long history of working partnerships between research and service providers and Northern communities began over half a century ago. The creation of this new Manitoba NEAHR project at the University of Manitoba affirms our position as a centre of excellence in Aboriginal health research, and will allow us to continue to build capacity in and further develop our partnerships with Aboriginal communities," said Dr. Joanne Keselman, Vice-President (Research) at the University of Manitoba.

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The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) is the Government of Canada's agency for health research. CIHR's mission is to create new scientific knowledge and to catalyze its translation into improved health, more effective health services and products, and a strengthened Canadian health-care system. Composed of 13 Institutes, CIHR provides leadership and support to more than 11,000 health researchers and trainees across Canada. www.cihr-irsc.gc.ca/

Further information:

Laryssa Waler, Press Secretary,
Office of the Honourable Tony Clement, 613-957-0200

David Coulombe, CIHR Media Relations,
613-941-4563 Cell: 613-808-7526

Janine Harasymchuk, Research Communications,
University of Manitoba 204-474-7300