This week I was really focused on trying to learn more about the landscape of traditional health knowledge in Canada and abroad. Another new-to-me organization is the First Nations Health Authority which is a BC-based government agency (or at least funded by the federal government) with the responsibility to:
[act as party responsible for] “the administration of federal health programs and services previously delivered by Health Canada’s First Nations Inuit Health Branch – Pacific Region, and to work with the province and First Nations to address service gaps through new partnerships, closer collaboration, and health systems innovation.”
I found this particularly interesting because it’s fairly uncommon to see first nations health in the hands of first nations groups, and more rare to see the federal government step down from administering programs like this. It also relates back to some discussions we’ve held in our Connect forums on the need to have first nations/indigenous voices really guiding the conversation on issues surrounding this specific population.