Canada boosts native health care

By Lee Carter
BBC correspondent in Toronto

Many Inuit villages are very remote

Canada's prime minister has announced a financial package to help improve the health of the country's indigenous people.

Paul Martin has called for a meeting with indigenous leaders to tackle social problems their communities face.

He says that his government has a historic opportunity to improve the health of the country's first people.

He noted that they have a shorter lifespan than the general population and suffer from more disease.

Mr Martin made the announcement at a meeting in Ottawa with the country's provincial premiers and territorial leaders to discuss the country's health care system.

Mr Martin said that C$683m ($525m) over five years could help to address the most pressing health problems.

He said these included "the expansion of the Aboriginal diabetes initiative, implementation of a national Aboriginal youth suicide prevention strategy".

Waiting time

Indigenous leaders say the health care services for their communities are in a shameful condition.

Inuit people in Canada's far north face particular problems.

They often have to wait days to see a doctor from the south and many less people living in the Arctic see a health professional at all, in comparison to the rest of the country.

Food is twice as expensive in a region where many people are already living in poverty.

Suicide rates for the Inuit are six times the national average. Indigenous leaders have welcomed the new funding announcement.

The chief of the Assembly of First Nations, Phil Fontaine, says he particularly welcomes the opportunity to sit down with the prime minister and other government officials to discuss a wide range of social issues.