March 24, 2025
ON WORLD TB DAY, MONDAY, MARCH 24, 2025, WE REMEMBER there are people in First Nations, Métis, and Inuit communities who still develop the world’s deadliest infectious disease—tuberculosis (TB) disease—and many more that who carry the TB infection, even while Canada has some of the lowest rates of TB in the world.
The First Nations Health Authority (FNHA) explains:
What is Tuberculosis (TB)?
Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) is a bacterium that has been around for thousands of years! It is a reportable serious communicable disease, but it is also treatable and preventable. It is only transmitted through the air (i.e. coughing, sneezing, or singing) from the lungs of a person sick with TB disease. A person close by and with prolonged exposure can inhale these tiny bacteria and become infected.
“Indigenous peoples in Canada are disproportionally affected by TB due to ongoing impacts of colonization and health inequities,” according to the Public Health Agency of Canada. See data about the incidence of TB among Indigenous Peoples, by province and territory, by age group, and in specific populations at this webpage at the Public Health Agency of Canada.
At this infographic describing TB prevention and care among people who self-identified as First Nations in BC from 2011 to 2021, the FNHA writes, “First Nations peoples have rich histories of wellness. Colonialism has had damaging impacts on health, including harms caused by tuberculosis (TB).”
Learn about FNHA Tuberculosis Services “In’ati Is’ick (Paddling Together)” here. “Persons experiencing TB are not alone; we are paddling together to get across the divide of illness and colonization to the shores of wellness and Indigenous revitalization.”
In Prince George, the National Collaborating Centre for Indigenous Health (NCCIH) hosts the Tuberculosis Collection, “a selective repository of resources related specifically to tuberculosis and the health of First Nations, Inuit and Métis populations in Canada. The resources focus primarily on issues and topics that would be of interest to health practitioners working in Indigenous communities, public health researchers and policy makers. You will also find NCCIH resources related to TB.”
Learn about Indigenous histories of TB in Manitoba at this webpage about the 2019 Manitoba Indigenous Tuberculosis Photo Project (MITPP), “a project featuring previously unseen historical photos of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit patients and staff at Manitoba tuberculosis (TB) hospitals, with the goal of making images accessible to former patients.”
In BC, you can take action on World TB Day in New Westminster, Port Coquitlam, Trail, Vancouver, or Victoria.
The Global Indigenous Stop TB Initiative (GISI) Working Group of the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union) “has operated for over 15 years as a networking space for researchers, care practitioners, and advocates, to network and share our activities globally” (read more here). GISI’s objective is to increase Indigenous Peoples’ involvement in and control over TB policy and programming.
Now that executive orders signed in the United States to freeze activities of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), global efforts to end TB are at risk. According to the grassroots organization Results Canada, “Canada has an enormous role to play to meet this moment and has both the diplomatic power and influence needed to mobilize other countries and institutions to come together and reject the notion that turning inward is the answer.” Read more here.
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We acknowledge that the land on which we work is the unceded territory of the Coast Salish peoples, including the territories of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.