Nunavik health board proposes hiring private staff to help curb tuberculosis outbreak
Most notably, the plan, which was shared with Radio-Canada prior to its release, calls for hiring agency health-care professionals to better support communities in the grips of the outbreak.
Since January, 69 cases of the potentially deadly disease have already been reported, with outbreaks declared in six communities. If the trend continues, doctors have said they fear 2025 could see a new record of confirmed cases, surpassing the 95 that were reported in 2024.
Earlier this year, communities tried to have the situation declared as a public health emergency.
Outside support
The board's plan aims to increase the capacity for handling patients and also find ways to bolster its response to the tuberculosis outbreaks with more staff.
In the short term, the board wants to increase the number of clinic spaces in communities that can accommodate people with the infection. Communities have said they need more ways to try and isolate patients and prevent the spread of the disease.
The region's lack of suitable housing — nearly half of residents live in overcrowded homes — has contributed to the outbreaks, and has also limited the ability to respond to them.
The plan proposes hiring additional support staff through private agencies, but recognizes the need to find appropriate housing.
Public health is also working to try and acquire more X-ray machines and corresponding analysis services to diagnose cases more quickly.
According to the board, discussions are ongoing with Quebec's Ministry of Health to secure funding for the plan.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CTV News
27 minutes ago
- CTV News
Penetanguishene woman wins provincial Split the Pot lottery
'I was in shock! I couldn't believe it,' said Yvonne Berriault of Penetanguishene after hearing she had won a lottery. Berriault and her husband Guy are the latest recipients of the Split the Pot Lottery Grand Prize, which totaled $450,000 in the June draw. 'This kind of thing doesn't usually happen to me. And it feels so good knowing that it supports Georgian Bay General Hospital (GBGH), a hospital that's always been close to my heart,' said Berriault. Berriault retired from GBGH nine years ago after 15 years working as a ward clerk. When she bought her ticket for June's Split the Pot draw, she chose GBGH Foundation as her hospital of choice, meaning the Foundation receives 100% of the net proceeds from her ticket sale. Split the Pot Lottery is supported by more than 80 hospital foundations across Ontario, offering bigger prizes and bigger impact. When purchasing a ticket, players select a hospital, and the foundation receives the net proceeds from their ticket sale. 'We're absolutely thrilled for Yvonne,' said Nicole Kraftscik, CEO of the GBGH Foundation. 'Her ongoing support truly reflects the power of community. Thanks to ticket buyers like Yvonne, we're able to invest in the critical tools and technology our care teams need to continue to provide excellent care every day.'
CTV News
27 minutes ago
- CTV News
Worried about Alzheimer's? Start walking, according to a new 10-year study
If you needed another reason to get your daily steps in, science just handed you one. A new study shows that walking daily can reduce the risk of cognitive decline — especially among those with a genetic predisposition for Alzheimer's disease. Almost 3,000 participants between the ages of 70 and 79 reported their daily walking habits over the course of 10 years, according to research that will be presented Tuesday at the annual Alzheimer's Association International Conference. Those who reported maintaining or increasing their walking habits over the years showed greater improvements in processing speed and executive function. The benefits of walking were especially noticeable among those with a genetic predisposition for developing Alzheimer's disease, according to the preprint, which has not been peer-reviewed or published in a professional journal. 'We know sedentary behavior increases as you get older, and physical activity decreases,' said senior study author Dr. Cindy Barha, an assistant professor of kinesiology at the University of Calgary in Alberta. 'So we recommend reducing your sedentary behavior by introducing small bouts of walking in between those times you have to be sitting down.' How does Alzheimer's disease work? Alzheimer's disease is a severe form of dementia thought to be caused by a buildup of harmful plaques in the brain that interfere with how the nerve cells communicate, eventually leading to their death, Barha said. As more nerve cells die, people with Alzheimer's can develop progressive memory loss, confusion, personality changes and physical decline. Eventually, the disease can be fatal, and there is no known cure. Genetics are thought to play a major role in the disease. Specifically, genotypes called APOE affect the metabolism of plaque and other fats throughout the bloodstream. One specific kind, APOE4, is known to make it harder for the brain to clear the plaques and is linked to a higher risk of cognitive decline. About 15% to 25% of people have this version of the APOE gene, and the only way to find out is from a genetic test, according to data from the US National Institutes of Health. The mind-body connection Although the new study did not test a uniform walking regimen, Barha suggests walking multiple times daily to break up sedentary behavior and maintaining consistent walking habits year to year to prevent cognitive decline. 'More research is really needed to determine how many steps that really takes, but more is definitely going to be better,' she said. 'The next steps would be to actually try to figure out the minimum amount of walking for different subgroups, (such as) females versus males, APOE4 carriers versus non-carriers.' A 2022 study found that even people who walked about 3,800 steps per day at any speed cut their risk of dementia by 25%. What might be going on between the brain and the rest of the body? Experts have several theories. For one, regular exercise has been shown to help the body produce more of a protein called brain-derived neurotrophic factor, or BDNF, which is like fertilizer for your brain, helping it grow more cells and form new connections, Barha explained. 'We're thinking there's proteins released from the muscle that travel to the brain and, either across the blood-brain barrier or at the blood-brain barrier, start a reaction that eventually leads to increases in BDNF within the brain,' she said. Another theory is that exercise reduces neuroinflammation, a common symptom of Alzheimer's disease. The brain sends immune cells called microglia to attack plaque buildup, but this can backfire, explained Dr. Christiane Wrann, an associate professor of medicine at the Cardiovascular Research Center at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Chronic inflammation can lead microglia to begin attacking healthy brain cells as well, damaging the brain's connections. 'If you exercise, you actually strengthen the gene expression program that microglia need to function properly,' Wrann said. Does greater risk mean greater reward? The researchers were surprised to find that walking provided the greatest benefit to those with the APOE4 gene compared to those without it. To understand why this is, more research will be needed — but Barha has a theory. 'Before the study started, we think APOE4 carriers had more room to grow in terms of cognition, since they may already have been experiencing some cognitive decline,' she said. 'They also have more room to show improvement.' It's possible that the study itself also motivated participants with APOE4 genes to walk more than they had been beforehand, slowing their rate of decline. 'This is a very strong example (that) it's never too late to start exercising,' Wrann said. 'Every step counts, and it's much better to do an exercise regimen that you actually like, that you can actually stick to.'
National Post
27 minutes ago
- National Post
AltPep Corporation Presents New Preclinical Data at AAIC 2025 Demonstrating SOBIN-AD, its Custom-Designed Peptide for Alzheimer's Disease, Increases Clearance of Aβ Toxic Oligomers and Inhibits Plaque Formation
Article content SEATTLE — AltPep Corporation, a privately held biotechnology company developing early disease-modifying treatments and detection tools for amyloid diseases will today present new preclinical data at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference (AAIC), taking place July 27-31 in Toronto, Canada, reinforcing the promising potential of its lead compound, SOBIN-AD (Soluble Oligomer Binding INhibitor), as a treatment for early Alzheimer's disease (AD). Article content 'We are thrilled to showcase these exciting preclinical results for our SOBIN-AD therapeutic,' said Valerie Daggett, Ph.D., CEO and Founder of AltPep. 'Our compound is based on the discovery that toxic oligomers, early triggers for amyloid diseases such as AD, form a nonstandard protein structure called α-sheet. We have now demonstrated that SOBIN-AD not only selectively targets the α-sheet toxic oligomers but also enhances clearance of these toxic oligomers.' Article content Carolyn Tallon, Ph.D., Principal Scientist, who will present the AltPep data at AAIC, further commented, 'Importantly, we showed that SOBIN-AD treatment improved short-term memory and reduced plaque burden in Tg AD mice, after 6 and 12 months of dosing, respectively. These exciting data mark a major milestone for SOBIN-AD and bring hope for early treatment of AD.' Article content Article content Poster #: Article content 104011 Article content Article content Date / Time: Article content Monday, July 28, 2025: 7:30 AM – 4:15 PM EDT Article content Article content Location: Article content Exhibit Hall DE Article content The poster will also be available in the 'Scientific Publications' section of the AltPep website under 'Presentations' at Article content Select preclinical data show SOBIN-AD: Article content binds Aβ oligomers 27,000-fold stronger than protofibrils; enhances microglial phagocytosis of toxic Aβ oligomers in a dose-dependent manner; significantly improves short-term memory in 9-month old Tg2576 AD mice after 6 months of dosing, 3X/week intranasally; and significantly reduces AB plaque burden in 15-month-old AD mice after 12 months of dosing, 3X/week intranasally. Article content Gil Block, M.D, Ph.D., and Chief Medical Officer of AltPep remarked, 'These results compellingly support the promise of SOBIN-AD as a transformative early treatment option for patients with AD. This achievement is especially important as we advance our program towards the clinic.' Article content About AltPep Corporation Article content AltPep is developing groundbreaking disease-modifying treatments and detection tools for amyloid diseases by targeting early molecular triggers: toxic soluble oligomers. Our customized, synthetic peptides are designed to bind selectively to toxic oligomers to both detect and neutralize them throughout disease progression. AltPep's emphasis is on early, pre-symptomatic detection and treatment. Our lead programs focus on Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, with other amyloid diseases, such as Type 2 diabetes, on the horizon. AltPep's goal is to change the course of these debilitating diseases that affect over a billion people around the globe. Article content Decades of scientific research by the Daggett Research Group at the UW provided the foundation for AltPep's innovative approach. Article content Article content Article content Article content Contacts Article content Media Contact: Article content Article content Article content Article content
