Thank you very much, Madam Chair.
I thank the witnesses for offering us their expertise today as part of this extremely important study on breast cancer screening standards at age 40.
We talked about this issue at length. The Standing Committee on Health also talked about it. We had the opportunity to raise the issue when we talked about women’s health. There seems to be a consensus on the matter. However, for my part, I am trying to go further to find other ways of thinking and other solutions.
Ms. Letendre, you talked about the issue of comorbidity and the link between diabetes and cancer among Indigenous people. You also talked about the importance of enhancing knowledge and making healthy life choices. You raised all those issues. This leads me to something else. In fact, beyond the issue of screening at 40 years old, on which seems to be a consensus, we need more potential solutions, to study other recommendations and to go further.
As for me, I am trying to understand why there are still so many cancers in Indigenous communities. We talked about the importance of making healthy life choices when it comes to preventing cancer. It is being talked about more and more. We also talked about the consequences of not acting sooner and letting people live in conditions that are disgraceful in 2024.
For example, there is more and more talk about contaminants in the environment and what is being dumped into it. There is also talk about the fact that certain Indigenous communities did not always have access to drinking water. So, I am trying to see how these factors can add up and have consequences on the number of cancers in Indigenous communities.