Forcing northerners to travel for CT scans ‘unacceptable,’ Quebec leader charges
An opposition party motion calling for a CT scanner to be installed in Nunavik has received unanimous support Tuesday in Quebec’s National Assembly.
Acadia MNA André Morin, the Liberal spokesperson for relations with First Nations and Inuit, called on the CAQ government to offer medical imaging services in the region by installing CT scans “as soon as possible.”
“Would the CAQ government tolerate that citizens of Laval or Trois-Rivières need to travel 1,500 kilometres to obtain a medical diagnosis?” Morin said later that day in a news release, calling it “unacceptable” that northern residents have to do that.
“It is the responsibility of the state to offer the same services to all citizens on the whole of its territory, even more so for health services.”
Audrey Noiseux, a press officer for Health Minister Christian Dubé, said in an email to Nunatsiaq News that the minister is “aware of the important needs in the region of Nunavik.”
“We will continue to collaborate with our partners, mainly at the Nunavik Regional Board of Health and Social Services, to accelerate projects that contribute to answering the needs of the population, notably the installation of CT scans, which we are in favour of.”
A CT scan, or computerized tomography, provide images more detailed than a typical X-ray can provide.
Dr. Nathalie Boulanger, director of professional services for both health centres in Nunavik, said last month that she wants to see CT scans available in Kuujjuaq and Puvirnituq hospitals.
She said earlier detection would improve patients’ chances of being successfully treated.
According to Boulanger, a scan should not take more than 90 minutes, yet Nunavimmiut currently have to travel for multiple days to receive one.
Cedric Gallant, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Nunatsiaq News
