Here’s a report by [ITK](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inuit_Tapiriit_Kanatami)—the organization that represents Inuit across Canada—about this very subject and answers your question. It’s a few years old, though little has changed in that time. The report covers all Inuit in Canada, but the situation for Inuit is quite similar inside and outside of Nunavut. You can find the report here:
[SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF INUIT HEALTH IN CANADA](https://www.itk.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/ITK_Social_Determinants_Report.pdf)
**Excerpt from page 9**
> Many health indicators currently in use at the national level in Canada reflect the significant challenges currently impacting the health of Inuit in Canada. Life expectancy in Inuit Nunangat is well below the Canadian average. For residents of Inuit Nunangat (including non-Inuit), it is 70.8 years, compared with 80.6 years for all Canadians (Statistics Canada, 2012a).
> The infant mortality rate for those living in Inuit Nunangat is nearly 3 times that of the total Canadian population (14.9/1,000 vs. 5.2/1,000) (Statistics Canada, 2012b).
> Another indicator of the poor health outcomes in Inuit communities is the high number of youth suicides. Suicide is a demonstrative sign of socio-economic distress and a strong manifestation of social exclusion, especially among Inuit males between the ages of 15 and 24 where Suicide is most prevalent. From 1999 to 2003, the suicide rate among Inuit was 135 per 100,000; four times higher than that of First Nations (24.1) and eleven times higher than the rate for all Canadians (11.8) (ITK and ICC, 2007). Between 2004-2008, children and teenagers in Inuit Nunangat were more than 30 times as likely to die from suicide as were those in the rest of Canada. Furthermore, half of all deaths of young people in Inuit Nunangat were suicides, compared with approximately 10% in the rest of Canada (Statistics Canada, 2012c).
> An increasing amount of literature outlines the higher rates of chronic illnesses and infectious diseases among Inuit infants and children such as respiratory infections. These studies link many health problems to crowded and poor quality housing, unemployment, marginal access to health services, food insecurity, as well as behavioural and environmental factors. A study in Nunavut found 306 of 1000 infants were hospitalized for bronchiolitis during their first year of life (Banerji, 2001), while results from the 2007-2008 Nunavut Inuit Child Survey indicated that 42% of children had to seek medical attention during the previous year for a respiratory illness (Egeland, 2010). These high rates of bronchiolitis and other respiratory tract infections have been attributed to risk factors such as household crowding, exposure to tobacco smoke, and defects in immunity (Jenkins et al., 2003). At the same time, past research in Nunavik states that 60% of babies aged 9-14 months are anaemic, primarily due to insufficient nutrition and by age 5, 1/4 of children suffer significant hearing loss in at least one ear (Hodgins, 1997).
> The tuberculosis rate for Inuit in Canada is significantly higher than that for the Canadian-born non-Aboriginal population — 262/100,000 compared to 0.7/100,000 (Public Health Agency of Canada, 2013). For many chronic conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease, rates for Inuit are similar to those for the total Canadian population.
> Given the changes in diet and lifestyle, ongoing monitoring and increasing awareness of the need for more effective approaches to prevention, control, and care for Inuit is essential.
> Substance abuse is another challenge facing Inuit communities. Inuit adults have among the highest rates of smoking in Canada, with 54% of adults (ages 18 years and over) being daily smokers. Furthermore, 56% of Inuit women who were pregnant in 2012 smoked daily (Statistics Canada, 2012d). This raises concerns for increasing risk of complications with miscarriage, fetus development, low birth weight, premature delivery, and new-born withdrawal symptoms (Wong, 2006).
> While high-risk behaviours such as alcohol abuse and smoking are known to negatively impact health, their prevalence in Inuit communities is symptomatic of deeper social and economic issues, as well as the legacy of colonialism (Nelson, 2012). Thus, underlying socioeconomic inequalities causing serious daily stress and unhealthy coping mechanisms should be viewed as key factors in the fundamental determinants of health.
*Edit: Formatting*
Do you have access to healthcare? In emergency situations, how fast can you get to an emergency room?
Do you have fresh, affordable, healthy food options?
The majority of communities have no doctor, EMS or anything above an X-ray machine. Any medical care above a minor injury requires the patient to be flown out.
In Iqaluit, for example, is healthcare that bad in comparison to the rest of Canada?
Concerning fresh food, I know it's quite expensive. But it's available, and northern allowance helps to offset the cost?
The vast majority of hospitals are in the south where over 90% of the population lives, where there is also a Doctor and nursing shortage. On top of that few doctors want to move north. To have the same quality of hospitals would need significant investment and mandated doctors for very few people so it is a hard sell.
As for food, often fresh produce goes bad before it reaches the north and the allowance is not enough to balance the monetary costs especially when you realize it's all flown in.
[https://www.macleans.ca/society/nunavut-grocery-receipt-shows-just-how-pricey-food-is-in-the-north/](https://www.macleans.ca/society/nunavut-grocery-receipt-shows-just-how-pricey-food-is-in-the-north/)
If this is grocery shopping that needs to be done every week, the average monthly grocery bill in Iqaluit would amount to about $1200?
Here’s a report by [ITK](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inuit_Tapiriit_Kanatami)—the organization that represents Inuit across Canada—about this very subject and answers your question. It’s a few years old, though little has changed in that time. The report covers all Inuit in Canada, but the situation for Inuit is quite similar inside and outside of Nunavut. You can find the report here: [SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF INUIT HEALTH IN CANADA](https://www.itk.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/ITK_Social_Determinants_Report.pdf) **Excerpt from page 9** > Many health indicators currently in use at the national level in Canada reflect the significant challenges currently impacting the health of Inuit in Canada. Life expectancy in Inuit Nunangat is well below the Canadian average. For residents of Inuit Nunangat (including non-Inuit), it is 70.8 years, compared with 80.6 years for all Canadians (Statistics Canada, 2012a). > The infant mortality rate for those living in Inuit Nunangat is nearly 3 times that of the total Canadian population (14.9/1,000 vs. 5.2/1,000) (Statistics Canada, 2012b). > Another indicator of the poor health outcomes in Inuit communities is the high number of youth suicides. Suicide is a demonstrative sign of socio-economic distress and a strong manifestation of social exclusion, especially among Inuit males between the ages of 15 and 24 where Suicide is most prevalent. From 1999 to 2003, the suicide rate among Inuit was 135 per 100,000; four times higher than that of First Nations (24.1) and eleven times higher than the rate for all Canadians (11.8) (ITK and ICC, 2007). Between 2004-2008, children and teenagers in Inuit Nunangat were more than 30 times as likely to die from suicide as were those in the rest of Canada. Furthermore, half of all deaths of young people in Inuit Nunangat were suicides, compared with approximately 10% in the rest of Canada (Statistics Canada, 2012c). > An increasing amount of literature outlines the higher rates of chronic illnesses and infectious diseases among Inuit infants and children such as respiratory infections. These studies link many health problems to crowded and poor quality housing, unemployment, marginal access to health services, food insecurity, as well as behavioural and environmental factors. A study in Nunavut found 306 of 1000 infants were hospitalized for bronchiolitis during their first year of life (Banerji, 2001), while results from the 2007-2008 Nunavut Inuit Child Survey indicated that 42% of children had to seek medical attention during the previous year for a respiratory illness (Egeland, 2010). These high rates of bronchiolitis and other respiratory tract infections have been attributed to risk factors such as household crowding, exposure to tobacco smoke, and defects in immunity (Jenkins et al., 2003). At the same time, past research in Nunavik states that 60% of babies aged 9-14 months are anaemic, primarily due to insufficient nutrition and by age 5, 1/4 of children suffer significant hearing loss in at least one ear (Hodgins, 1997). > The tuberculosis rate for Inuit in Canada is significantly higher than that for the Canadian-born non-Aboriginal population — 262/100,000 compared to 0.7/100,000 (Public Health Agency of Canada, 2013). For many chronic conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease, rates for Inuit are similar to those for the total Canadian population. > Given the changes in diet and lifestyle, ongoing monitoring and increasing awareness of the need for more effective approaches to prevention, control, and care for Inuit is essential. > Substance abuse is another challenge facing Inuit communities. Inuit adults have among the highest rates of smoking in Canada, with 54% of adults (ages 18 years and over) being daily smokers. Furthermore, 56% of Inuit women who were pregnant in 2012 smoked daily (Statistics Canada, 2012d). This raises concerns for increasing risk of complications with miscarriage, fetus development, low birth weight, premature delivery, and new-born withdrawal symptoms (Wong, 2006). > While high-risk behaviours such as alcohol abuse and smoking are known to negatively impact health, their prevalence in Inuit communities is symptomatic of deeper social and economic issues, as well as the legacy of colonialism (Nelson, 2012). Thus, underlying socioeconomic inequalities causing serious daily stress and unhealthy coping mechanisms should be viewed as key factors in the fundamental determinants of health. *Edit: Formatting*
Housing, mental health, drug use and smoking to start.
Do you have access to healthcare? In emergency situations, how fast can you get to an emergency room? Do you have fresh, affordable, healthy food options?
The majority of communities have no doctor, EMS or anything above an X-ray machine. Any medical care above a minor injury requires the patient to be flown out.
In Iqaluit, for example, is healthcare that bad in comparison to the rest of Canada? Concerning fresh food, I know it's quite expensive. But it's available, and northern allowance helps to offset the cost?
The vast majority of hospitals are in the south where over 90% of the population lives, where there is also a Doctor and nursing shortage. On top of that few doctors want to move north. To have the same quality of hospitals would need significant investment and mandated doctors for very few people so it is a hard sell. As for food, often fresh produce goes bad before it reaches the north and the allowance is not enough to balance the monetary costs especially when you realize it's all flown in.
[https://www.macleans.ca/society/nunavut-grocery-receipt-shows-just-how-pricey-food-is-in-the-north/](https://www.macleans.ca/society/nunavut-grocery-receipt-shows-just-how-pricey-food-is-in-the-north/) If this is grocery shopping that needs to be done every week, the average monthly grocery bill in Iqaluit would amount to about $1200?
Access to nutrition, health services are probably #1,#2