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That is, if this ambitious project receives federal International Polar Year funding.
But if IPY doesn’t come through with money soon, the Amundsen may have to drastically scale back and visit only two communities in each of Nunavut’s three regions.
“They were supposed to let us know in September, so it really does make it more difficult. If we don’t hear soon we won’t be able to proceed in 2007. We need to hear yes or no and plan around it,” said Dr. Grace Egeland from McGill University, who is coordinating the health survey project in Nunavut.
The total number of Inuit involved in this global health study could reach 12,000, from Greenland to Russia, including 2,500 Inuit from Nunatsiavut, Nunavut and the Northwest Territories. In western Greenland, 1,500 have already stepped up.
But the project is costly. Simply to man Amundsen for the project would cost more than $300,000, Egeland said.
And without the IPY money, there won’t be enough money to include Nunavut’s children or all communities in the survey.
In Nunavik’s Qanuippitaa health survey, 925 adults participated in health exams on board the Amundsen, which visited every community in the region in summer 2004.
During a four- to five-hour visit to the boat, participants were interviewed and received blood tests and medical exams.
If IPY steps up with money, Nunavut’s health survey will include children under 18 in addition to adults.
“The five-and-under is a good group to study because they are good indicators of how communities are doing,” Egeland said.
Egeland made a presentation on the proposed tour at last week’s ArcticNet conference, held in Victoria, British Columbia.
ArcticNet is a network that brings together researchers with Inuit organizations, northern communities, federal and provincial agencies and the private sector to study the impacts of climate change in the coastal Canadian Arctic. ArcticNet is located at Laval University in Quebec City.
Although the full results of the Qanuippitaa survey won’t be available until 2007, researchers involved in the survey also revealed some highlights at the ArcticNet conference.
These include findings that suggest Inuit may be losing their natural protection against diabetes.
In Nunavik, the survey found 5.5 per cent of Nunavimmiut have diabetes, with much higher levels found in women over 45.
More than 14 per cent of Nunavimmiut have high blood pressure, which is also associated with a higher risk of developing diabetes.
As well, obesity is on the increase in the region, now affecting nearly one in three adults in Nunavik.
According to a study presented at the ArcticNet conference, Labrador tea plants, which are commonly found and traditionally consumed in tea throughout the Eastern Arctic, appear to offer protection against diabetes.
Other presentations at the conference focused on the Arctic environment, with a special emphasis on the impact of pollution from mercury and other contaminants.
Levels of methyl mercury, a neuro-toxin that affects the nervous system, naturally rise as water temperatures go up. More mercury is also released from coal-burning power plants in the South, travels north and accumulates in fish.
Many scientists at the ArcticNet conference called for an international treaty to prevent an increase in the levels of mercury in the Arctic.
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