Government Creates Aboriginal Health Research Net

The overall health of Aboriginal people is significantly worse than the health of other Canadians. For example, the gap in life expectancy between Aboriginal and other Canadians is seven years; Aboriginal people are more likely than other Canadians to have hearing, sight and speech disabilities, and they experience significantly higher rates of diabetes and other diseases than the rest of Canadians. Some reasons for this are already known, some remain to be discovered through new research. The NEAHR program will benefit Canada's Aboriginal people by helping to increase the impact of Aboriginal health research, and apply the research findings effectively to improve the health of First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples' health in Canada. The program will, for example: * Enhance and develop the research environment between Universities and First Nations, Metis and Inuit communities and organizations; * Support research that focuses on themes such as population health; health services; child health and development; and ethical issues in aboriginal health research; and * Train more than 200 graduate students who are working a broad range of health issues, including such as mental health and addiction, food security, nutrition, diabetes, northern health issues, tobacco control, aboriginal youth suicide. "The NEAHR grant will make it possible for First Nations students and communities to become more involved in research and present their findings at Canadian and international conferences. We believe the UM NEAHR Centre will be quite innovative under the excellent leadership of Dr. Cathy Cook, and look forward to the outcome, " said Ron Evans, Grand Chief of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs. "Canada is leading the world in fostering an environment for advanced Aboriginal health research," said Dr. Jeff Reading, Scientific Director for the Canadian Institutes of Health Research's Institute of Aboriginal Peoples' Health. "This investment will establish a national network of health researchers from across Canada to work on health priorities identified within Aboriginal communities." ... http://news.gc.ca/web/view/en/index.jsp?articleid=374039

Note: http://news.gc.ca/web/v...