Cancer among Aboriginal people living on reserves and in Northern villages in Québec, 1984-2004 – Incidence and mortality

Cancer among Aboriginal people living on
reserves and in Northern villages in Québec,
1984-2004

INCIDENCE AND MORTALITY

FOREWORD

Cancer incidences and cancer deaths are increasing very rapidly among the Aboriginal populations. While this issue, some decades ago, was almost inexistent, it is today an important concern to those populations and to the public health authorities.A United States and Canada Joint Review Committee on Cancer among Aboriginals has been created to develop and standardize cancer monitoring methods specifically designed for the North America’s Aboriginal populations. Besides providing a comprehensive framework, the Committee opens the possibility to realize a comparison study covering both countries diverse Aboriginal Nations which was not always the case in the past. More so, the Committee endorses the actual monograph as a component of its framework.

This study provides an actual portrait of cancer occurrences within the Province of Québec Aboriginal and Inuit populations, and is a testimony of its evolution from 1984 to 2004. Furthermore, to compensate for the lack of an Aboriginal Cancer Registry, this study explores the possibility of using the place of residence included in the Fichier des tumeurs (Tumour File) and the Fichier des décès (Record of Death) to identify the new cancer cases and cancer deaths among the Aboriginal populations living on Amerindian Reserves and Northern villages. Even though a small portion of the reserves and Northern villages’ residents is not of Aboriginal or Inuit origin, the proposed method by default of representing a specific reality, allows measuring the extent of this area of concern.

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