Canada must do more to tackle poorer health of indigenous people, says national chief

The leader of Canada’s indigenous people has called on the government to eliminate the longstanding inequality in health between the general population and the First Nations (Indians, Métis, and Inuit).

Speaking on 7 November at the annual conference of Canada’s family doctors in Vancouver, Chief Shawn A-in-chut Atleo, the national chief to the Assembly of First Nations of Canada, said, “It is our shameful reality that simply being Aboriginal is a health determinant at this stage in Canada.”

Healthcare for First Nations people continued to be a complex and diverse issue, said Atleo, a hereditary chief from the Ahousaht …