Section 2

• Communicable diseases are airborne droplets that are spread from one person to another or through the environment. Nutritional, neonatal, and parental conditions are grouped with this
• HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria are communicable diseases known as the big three due to them presenting a significant burden for low-income countries.
• HIV is a disease that attacks the body's white blood cells and weaken's the body's immune system. It works by affecting helper T-cells destroying them over time, eventually causing AIDS. It is spread via bodily fluids. It is treated with antiretroviral therapy (ART), and can be prevented with condoms and harm reduction with needles.
• Socioeconomic factors contributing to higher HIV prevalence of Indigenous people include domestic violence, stigma, discrimination, and injection drug use. Mistrust in healthcare services.
• Indigenous youth in Canada are 22 times at risk of HIV than the general population due to inaccessible methadone clinics and risk reduction programs.
• Barriers to methadone treatment include distance travelling and lack of counselling and support for Indigenous communities.
• Abstinence-based therapy was found to be the preferred treatment method for methadone treatment due to stigma around treatment.
• Canadian aboriginal aids network (CAAN) is a non-profit program promoting social determinants of health framework through advocacy and up to date information on current issues for Indigenous people.
• Tuberculosis is a bacteria caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and affects one quarter of the world. It works by attacking the lungs, but can also affect other parts of the body. TB usually remains latent. If it goes untreated, 5-10% infected individuals will develop active TB.
• Tuberculosis is transmitted via airborne droplets from sneezing or coughing. It can be treated with antibiotics over the course of 9 months. Stopping early can cause drug resistance
• Lack of ventilation and overcrowded homes contribute to Indigenous people suffering from tuberculosis 40x more than the general population.
• The Inuit Tuberculosis Elimination Framework includes 6 goals: enhance TB care and prevention, reduce poverty and improving social determinants of health, empower and mobilize communities, strengthen TB care and prevention capacities, develop Inuit solutions, and ensure accountability for TB elimination
• Malaria is caused by the parasite Plasmodium, transmitted via mosquitos. It is more prevalent but less deadly than HIV. It acts after being dormant in the liver by attacking red blood cells causing them to burst. It is transmitted by mosquito bites, and is treated with anti-malarial drugs.
• Malaria symptoms include headache, abdominal pain, chills, fever, sweats, seizures, anemia, jaundice, heart failure, etc.
• Insecticide treated mosquito nets are use to prevent malaria. However, they are often inaccessible leading to a barrier to its use
• Nutritional deficiencies make up 2% of total daly's and include protein malnutrition, iodine deficiency, iron deficiency, and vitamin A deficiency.
• Iron deficiency effects include impaired development in children to decreased productivity in adults. It is so common that it sucks the life out of economical development.
• Protein energy malnutrition is starvation and has a large impact on children due to their lower protein intake after they stop breastfeeding. It is less common but more sever than iron deficiency.
• Impacts of maternal conditions and maternal health include impacts on children, economic impact, and social justice impacts.
• Neonatal death causes include infections, pre-term, and birth trauma. Interventions include prenatal visits, skilled birth attendants, and postnatal care
• 8.9% and 5.9% of infants born to African mothers and Caucasian mothers were preterm
• COVID-19 in Canada was much more prevalent than in Indigenous communities.