Arctic

IHACC Research Profiled in Nunatsiaq Online

The IHACC project was recently profiled in a Nunatsiaq Online article by Samantha Dawson. Read the full article on the Nunatsiaq Online website.

Iqaluit project eyes link between tummy troubles-climate change

"We’re expecting to see an increase in contaminated drinking water"

SAMANTHA DAWSON

Climate change, which affects food security, may also lead to an increase in stomach illnesses among Inuit.

That’s according to the “Indigenous Health Adaptation to Climate Change” project.

This project sent researchers in to Iqaluit to conduct 20-minute interviews with Inuit in Iqaluit about what they eat, whether they hunt, and whether they have stomach problems, such as vomiting or diarrhea, which are among symptoms of acute gastrointestinal illness.

To reach more people, interviewers have gone door-to-door to about 500 homes in Iqaluit.

And they also held a char and bannock feast at the Anglican Parish Hall on March 21.

Bacteria, parasites and viruses carried by contaminated water or by person-to-person contact can cause stomach illness, said Sherilee Harper, a lead researcher on the project.

Although the risk factors vary, the research team has identified some specific risk factors in Iqaluit.

While Harper did not offer any specific details about what these are, high rates of stomach illness are found in aboriginal communities in general, and in particularly Inuit communities, she said.

The incentive to start the study in Nunavut was based on interest from “government stakeholders in Iqaluit,” past research from Nunatsiavut, and high rates of stomach illness in the Arctic, she said.

Read the rest of the article here.

IHACC on CBC: "Health survey to look at effect of climate change"

The IHACC Arctic event "Iqaluit Burden of Acute Gastrointestinal Illness Survey Results Sharing Meeting" that took plae on Friday March 22nd. The article includes information about IHACC surveys and research in the Arctic. See below or view the article on the CBC website here.

A survey looking at the impact of climate change on the health of residents of Iqaluit will enter its second phase this spring.

Last fall, surveyors visited more than 500 homes in the city.

Sherilee Harper, with the Indigenous Health Adaptation to Climate Change Project, says the study began in Labrador where they found changes in weather patterns could be linked to stomach illness.

"So [we] kind of expanded that into Iqaluit as well because some people here were also interested in learning about those relationships or potential relationships."

Researchers will start knocking on doors again in May.

The group is working with the Government of Nunavut, the Nunavut Research Institute and Iqaluit Public Health on the project.

People who want more information can attend a char chowder and bannock drop-in at the Parish Hall in Iqaluit on Thursday at 5:30 p.m.

The group plans to share the survey results with the public in June.

Anna's Fieldwork in Iqaluit, September 2012

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Photographs and text by Anna Bunce.

Food security and stomach illness related to water borne disease are two issues Northern Canadians grapple with on daily basis. The Indigenous Adaptation to Climate Change (IHACC) research group conducted household surveys of Iqaluit and Rigolet residents in an attempt to determine how climate change is contributing to food security and illnesses. Over three weeks, four IHACC researchers from the University Guelph and McGill worked with a team of 16 local surveyors in Iqaluit to administer these surveys in over 500 randomly selected homes. The aim of the project is to extend the use of the data beyond research and into local programming. The information will be shared with the Public Health Agency of Canada and the local government for future policy planning. IHACC also has funds reserved to develop locally specific programming to address issues revealed by the survey data.

National Geographic: Climate Change Linked to Waterborne Diseases in Inuit Communities

The IHACC project was recently profiled in a National Geographic Daily News post by Ker Than. Read the full article on the National Geographic website.

As global warming triggers heavier rainfall and faster snowmelt in the Arctic, Inuit communities in Canada are reporting more cases of illness attributed to pathogens that have washed into surface water and groundwater, according to a new study.

The findings corroborate past research that suggests indigenous people worldwide are being disproportionately affected by climate change. This is because many of them live in regions where the effects are felt first and most strongly, and they might come into closer contact with the natural environment on a daily basis. For example, some indigenous communities lack access to treated water because they are far from urban areas.

Read the Full Article

"In the north, a lot of [Inuit] communities prefer to drink brook water instead of treated tap water. It's just a preference," explained study lead author Sherilee Harper, a Vanier Canada graduate scholar in epidemiology at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada. "Also, when they're out on the land and hunting or fishing, they don't have access to tap water, so they drink brook water."

The experiences of the Inuit and other indigenous communities as they struggle to adapt to changing climate conditions could help guide humanity in the coming years when the effects of climate change are felt universally, scientists say.

"These societies are like crystal balls for understanding what could happen when these changes start materializing over the next few decades down south, as they surely will," said James Ford of McGill University, an expert in indigenous adaptation to climate change who was not involved in the study.

"Scientists often talk about how if global temperature increases by 4 degrees Celsius [7°F], there will be catastrophic climate change effects, Ford said, "but where I work in the Arctic, we've already seen that 4-degree Celsius change."

(Related: "Indigenous Peoples Can Show Path to Low-Carbon Living")

Weather and Illness

Ford said the new study is the first to draw a link between climate change and disease in Canadian Arctic communities. "Water issues have been largely neglected in the [climate change] scholarship," he said.

"Before this study, there was very little understanding of the burden of illness of waterborne disease in the Arctic . . . The baseline that we have from this study will allow us to track whether changes in behavior make a difference in the future," said Ford.

Harper's Inuit research, published in a recent issue of the journal EcoHealth, is part of a multiyear comparative study of how extreme weather events affect waterborne disease outbreaks in aboriginal communities around the globe.

The team is conducting similar studies among the Batwa pygmies in Uganda and the Shipibo people in Peru. The trials are still under way, but preliminary results suggest that, like the Inuits, these groups are also starting to feel the health effects of climate change-related weather patterns.

Boosting Native Health Systems

For each of the communities studied, Harper and her team documented the local weather patterns using weather stations; conducted weekly water tests; and searched clinical records for reports of vomiting and diarrhea. The team also conducted surveys to gather information about local lifestyles.

Combining and analyzing these various data together uncovered some interesting patterns. For example, "our research found that after periods of heavy rainfall or rapid snowmelt, there is an increase of bacteria [such as E. coli] in the water, and about two to four weeks later there is an increase in diarrhea and vomiting," Harper said.

In Uganda, the team found that families that don't keep their animals in shelters are about three times more likely to get sick after periods of heavy rain. The team suspects pathogens from the animal feces are getting washed into the drinking water.

Harper's studies are part of a larger endeavor—the Indigenous Health Adaptation to Climate Change, or IHACC, project. It aims to combine science and traditional knowledge to strengthen health systems in indigenous communities.

One of the IHACC project goals is to use data from the studies to advise local policymakers and help develop ways to improve the health of those in the affected communities. Strategies for reducing waterborne disease, for example, might be as simple as building animal enclosures or establishing protected sources of water for drinking, Harper said.

(Related: "Tapping Wisdom of the Elders")

Widespread Changes

In Rigolet, a small Inuit town studied by Harper’s team, the findings from the study have already led to changes in the community, said Charlotte Wolfrey, mayor of the town.

“We’re asking people when they go to their cabin not to drink brook water and instead take water that has been chlorinated to eliminate bacteria,” Wolfrey said. “We also have posters around town reminding people that if they’re going to drink [untreated] water, they need to boil it first.”

Wolfrey, who has spent nearly 40 years of her life in Rigolet, says that climate change has forced the people in her town to question things that were once taken for granted, such as places in the ice where one can safely cross, or seasonal water routes for boats.

“With climate change, that knowledge that was passed down from generation to generation doesn’t count anymore,” she said. “We can’t trust it.”

The lessons learned in Rigolet and other indigenous communities could someday benefit humanity as a whole because their problems could soon become global problems. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), for example, most of the climate change-related disease burden in the 21st century will be due to diarrheal diseases.

"The climate change impact on waterborne disease is not just an Arctic issue, or just an indigenous issue," Harper said.

McGill University's Ford agreed. "If we look at what happens in the Arctic and how climate change plays out with its societies and people, we'll increase our understanding of how as a globe we are going to respond to climate change," he said.

Ford says his time among the Inuit has made him "cautiously optimistic" that climate change is a problem that humans will be able to adapt to, if not solve.

"When I first went to work up north more than ten years ago, there were all sorts of news reports about how climate change was going to threaten the Inuit. But when I started working with them, the thing that struck me is that many people said, 'We're resilient. We'll adapt.' So I think we'll stand a good chance of weathering whatever changes might happen," Ford said.

But, he added, "Things will have to be done to get there. We can't just wait and hope we adapt. We have to be proactive."

(Related: "Learning from Inuit Widsom")

Launching IHACC project in Nunatsiavut

Sherilee reports on the launching of the IHACC project in Nunatsiavut, September 15-26, 2011. The outputs of this trip are: a 5 minute informational Video, Posters and mailbox flyers, Radio Announcements, Pre-testing questionnaires with community members, Training for BOI Questionnaire Administration, Prepare questionnaire packages containing questionnaire booklet (with participant ID) and consent forms, Prepare a participant list, participant recruitment and  administration of questionnaires.