Health committee  There was some federal funding provided that went into this, but there were other agencies that were involved in it as well that helped to develop the idea. I believe it was tested in about six or seven first nations in B.C. and Alberta and one in Saskatchewan. In terms of the direct involvement, it wasn't that there was somebody who prescribed it.

Health committee  Yes. SCRAP-TB stands for strategic community risk assessment and program for TB. It began in B.C. It was a way to involve the community, engage the community, and develop champions for TB within the first nations communities, to assist with the TB control program. One of the other important aspects of it is that it wasn't a program that said you have to do it this way--a template.

Health committee  Yes, I do. I think some of the reasons for this are that in the Canadian population as a whole we were dealing with a whole country, and it's one of the things Dr. Long has pointed out, and especially from our experience in Saskatchewan, where we've seen, as he's pointed out, that there are may be six or seven communities that have the highest burden of tuberculosis.

Health committee  May I make just one more point on this? In closing, I think we have tools and expertise, but we need to collaborate with the first nations and Métis communities. As I said before, we all have to be working together on this.

Health committee  Thank you, Madam Chair and members of the committee. I'm pleased to be here on behalf of the Canadian Lung Association, and I wish to thank the committee for recognizing that this is a serious issue that deserves the attention of Parliament. Rather than repeat a lot of the information that you've already heard this morning, I want to reinforce two points from the lung association's point of view.