A new study has found that the life expectancy gap between First Nations people and other Manitobans has grown to 11 years.
The joint report comes from the First Nations Health and Social Secretariat of Manitoba and the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy at the University of Manitoba.
The report shows that the gap has increased by four years since the last report in 2002.
According to the report, First Nations females can expect to live until 72, while other Manitoba female can expect to live to 83. The life expectancy for Manitoba males is 79 years, compared to 68 years for First Nations males in Manitoba.
The study also showed that the rate of premature death -which is any death before the age of 75- for First Nations people is triple that of others.
The report cited multiple contributing factors, such as a lack of primary healthcare, poor housing, poverty, racism, clean water and lack of healthy and affordable food.
Dr. Alan Katz with the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy said that the health of Manitobans is improving all the time but the improvement has been much greater in all other Manitobans than in First Nations.
Katz added that primary care services aren’t as readily available in Indigenous communities and people need to travel long distances to get access to the care they need, and when they are provided, it’s never from the same provider.
Two more reports, focused on diabetes and children’s health, are expected to be released in 2020.
