Thank you, Madam Chair, members of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Health, and other participants in the panel discussion. I wish to express my appreciation on behalf of the Athabasca Health Authority for this opportunity to share our experience to date in preparing for the next wave of the current pandemic influenza, H1N1.
In a very real sense, the Athabasca Denesuline have been preparing for pandemics at least since the first contact with Europeans. The region of the Athabasca Health Authority, or AHA, is in northernmost Saskatchewan and encompasses approximately 150,000 square kilometres of much larger traditional territory of the Athabasca Denesuline. The total population of the AHA region is 3,500, of which more than 90% are Denesuline and other aboriginal peoples. More than 80% of the population lives on reserve at Fond du Lac and Black Lake first nations, while the remaining residents live in the three provincial communities of Stony Rapids, Uranium City, and Camsell Portage.
The Athabasca Health Authority was created through the independent and unanimous agreement of the members of the first nations and the provincial communities a decade ago in order to create an integrated and interjurisdictional health organization committed to the provision of comprehensive health service to all residents on an equitable basis. There were a number of foundation agreements to which AHA members, the Government of Canada, and the Government of Saskatchewan are parties, and both levels of government continue to provide significant funding to AHA operations. The Athabasca Health Authority's vision and mandate is funded on the principles and understanding that are currently described as “population health”.
In a region primarily populated by aboriginal peoples, we understand very clearly that the colonization; loss of control of territory, resources, and the ability to make a living from the land; dependency; poverty; inadequate infrastructure, housing, and culture; and community and family crises are determinants of health. Our approach to pandemic preparedness begins with the same understanding. We can never really be adequately prepared until we have addressed the determinants of health that make our region and our residents so vulnerable to the disease.
Two documents attached to this presentation contain summaries of the current measures and the determinants of health and health status of the Athabasca region in northern Canada. Copies can be picked up through the office of the MP who represents our constituency.
During the first six years of AHA operations, various emergency preparedness plans have been developed to respond to natural and industrial disease crises, both at the community and, more recently, at the regional level. With the assistance of Health Canada's First Nations and Inuit Health Branch and Saskatchewan Health, community-based pandemic plans have been developed. During the past year, through agreement of the AHA board and the regional leadership, AHA has been developing, in cooperation with local communities, an integrated and comprehensive regional pandemic influenza preparedness plan.
There is now a regional operational plan for preparing and responding to a pandemic influenza outbreak. Again, the attachment to this presentation is part of the presentation and documents that we distributed to our MP. While further development and refinement of the regional plan continues, there's support throughout the region to work within the provisions and protocol of the plan as it continues to evolve.
Discussions, partnerships, and collaborations continue outside the Athabasca region with health and environmental agencies and transportation and various material and service sectors to address a range of issues related to the security of the supplies during a pandemic. While we have made significant progress in planning, our preparedness will be limited by our capacity to implement the regional pandemic plan. Currently our community primary health care--