Health Canada seeks protective jab for all Inuit kids

Don’t wait, vaccinate.

That’s the message Health Canada wants to send to Inuit parents and caregivers as part of a national campaign aimed at preventing illness among aboriginal children.

A new guide on vaccination, developed by Health Canada in partnership with Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, Pauuktutit Inuit Women of Canada and the Government of Nunavut, is now available in Inuktitut, English and French.

Immunization rates among Inuit have increased, but improvements can still be made, said Health Canada spokesman David Thomas.

The Inuit guide should increase awareness and understanding of the importance of immunization for children from infancy to the age of two, he said.

A vaccine is a substance containing killed or weakened germs of a specific disease which is injected in order to prevent the recipient from getting the actual disease.

Health Canada says that immunization is a safe and effective way to protect children, families and communities from preventable diseases such as whooping cough, measles, pneumococcal, meningococcal, chicken pox, and polio.

The immunization guide recommends an immunization schedule that starts when an infant in two months old.

While Health Canada has limited access to data on Inuit, overall immunization coverage rates in Canada are still lower than those in many other developed countries, Thomas said.

See the guide online here.