Fresh air and health care

Nunavut Health Minister Ed Picco was surrounded by mountains and fellow health ministers at a federal-provincial-territorial health ministers’ conference in Banff, Alberta, Sept. 4 to 5.

Before heading west, Picco, Canada’s longest-serving health minister, told Nunatsiaq News discussions would focus on Roy Romanow’s pending report on the future of health care.

Romanow visited Iqaluit and Pangnirtung in April during his cross-Canada tour. His highly anticipated report is scheduled to be released in November 2002.

Picco offered the following recommendations to Romanow earlier this year: federally funded health programs should be based on need, not per capita formulas; health care for Inuit in Nunavut should address the unique needs created by living in northern, remote areas; and federally funded aboriginal health care programs should be consolidated.

“Mr. Romanow’s report is being waited for with bated breath. I believe the comments made during his visit here will make a specific difference for the people of Nunavut,” Picco said.