Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq and Assembly of First Nations Chief Shawn Atleo co-hosted a national "virtual summit" about protecting First Nations communities from the H1N1 flu virus. But participation by some communities was hampered by slow Internet access.
The summit was held Tuesday after the Assembly, Health Canada and Indian and Northern Affairs Canada pledged in September to cooperate in devising swine-flu pandemic plans. That decision came after dozens of body bags were inexplicably sent to First Nations communities, angering community leaders.
However, access to the event depended on the speed of local Internet connections, said Bryan Hendry, a spokesperson for the Assembly.
Hendry estimates that about half of the First Nations and Inuit communities in the country do not have access to high-speed Internet. Those with dial-up access had to listen in, without video.
"The ones who were able to log on to the summit heard about the preparations and activities underway to deal with the second wave," Hendry told CTV.ca. "Another big thing would be making sure that every First Nations community has Internet connectivity to participate."
The event, which received more than 1,000 hits, took place on Tuesday from noon until 2:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. It covered issues such as the distribution of H1N1 vaccines and antiviral drugs, and profiled what individual communities are doing to avert potential outbreaks.
Aglukkaq emphasized that 95 per cent of First Nations communities had a pandemic plan in place by the time the second wave of the H1N1 flu arrived.
Meanwhile, Atleo said that living conditions such as poverty and overcrowded housing are putting residents of First Nations peoples at greater risk of viruses such as swine flu.
"Many of our communities have faced unique challenges in preparing for the pandemic - their location, poor infrastructure and limited resources," Atleo said in a press release.
Such virtual summits could be used in future to address economic development issues, problems with the Indian Act or land-claim negotiations, Hendry said.
