New N.W.T. cancer strategy aims to improve patient care

The Government of the Northwest Territories has released its first ever cancer strategy, which it hopes will improve how people with the disease are cared for in the territory.

For the last three years, the department of health and social services held sharing circles with cancer patients who identified several areas for improvement, including screening, support for patients and survivors, and culturally appropriate information and services.

The government is hoping the new strategy can help it fix some of the problems that have long been complained about — from medical travel to language barriers. 

The document addresses the low number of people in the N.W.T. who get screened for cancer, and how to make it more accessible.

One suggestion is to allow women visiting regional centres from the communities to get a mammogram, which detects breast cancer, without an appointment.

The government is also trying to figure out how to get more people screened for the most common cancer in the territory: colorectal. Right now, only about 20 per cent of eligible people are being screened for the disease.  

'Complex journey' 

The government will also try to improve the medical escort program, to fix inconsistencies in approving escorts.

Part of its five-year plan includes developing cancer terminology in aboriginal languages, and looking at how to deliver a cancer diagnosis to a patient in their home community, rather than thousands of kilometres away in Alberta.

The improvements are an attempt to help people navigate through the "complex journey" of having cancer, the strategy says.

Cancer is the leading cause of death in the N.W.T. and Canada. Between 2001 and 2010, an average of 111 new cancer cases were diagnosed every year in the territory, and about 45 people a year died from the disease.