Numbers triple at second Inuit smoking counsellor workshop

The Nunavik Board of Health and Social Services graduated 17 volunteers from its second Inuit smoking counsellor workshop held Feb. 24 to 28.

The first workshop, held last November, drew only five volunteers.

The five-day event trained Nunavimmiut to lead non-smoking support groups, counsel individuals, deal with the media and involve entire communities in anti-tobacco campaigns.

Though this session was originally intended for Hudson Bay communities alone, in the end organizers opened up the event to volunteers from both the Hudson and Ungava Bay coasts. Volunteers consisted of both smokers and non-smokers.

Merryll Hammond, a nurse who is directing the workshop with the health board’s Kathy Snowball, said she is thrilled with the increasing interest.

“The nice thing is the positive spin of it. Here’s something in the North that’s working,” Hammond said.

Tobacco use is an enormous problem in Nunavik. More than 75 per cent of Nunavik adults and 80 per cent adolescents use tobacco on a regular basis. Nearly a quarter of Nunavimmiut die from smoking-related illnesses such as lung cancer and heart disease every year.

Hammond hopes there will eventually be 28 smoking counsellors across Nunavik — two in each community.