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Minister applauds new aboriginal health care plan Tom Rideout, Minister responsible for Aboriginal Affairs, said today he is pleased with the recent announcements on a new national blueprint on aboriginal health and with Canada�s commitment of funding for an Aboriginal Health Transition Fund, an Aboriginal Health Human Resources Initiative and for health promotion and disease prevention programs. The agreement to work together to develop a blueprint to improve the health of aboriginal people was reached at the Special Meeting of First Ministers and National Aboriginal Leaders in Ottawa. "I look forward to working with Premier Williams, my federal, provincial and territorial colleagues and with the leadership of the aboriginal peoples, at both the national and local levels, to develop specific initiatives to improve the delivery of health services to aboriginal people in Newfoundland and Labrador. This will be accomplished with better integration of the services provided by the province, federal government and aboriginal peoples," said Minister Rideout. The federal government also committed to provide specific funding to: an Aboriginal Transition Fund, to devise new ways to integrate and adapt existing health services to better meet the needs of aboriginal people; an Aboriginal Health Transition Fund, to increase the number of aboriginal people in the health care professions; and to health promotion and disease prevention programs that will focus specifically on suicide prevention, diabetes, maternal and child health and early childhood development. "It is important that the aboriginal peoples in this province benefit from these specific commitments, and we are prepared to assist them in developing proposals and other ways to ensure they have maximum access to the federal funding," said Minister Rideout. "It will be particularly important that the aboriginal groups in this province receive sufficient federal funding to help them address the serious health and social challenges confronting their communities. "I applaud the efforts of Premier Williams, the ministers of Health and Finance, and senior government officials who worked so vigorously and diligently on behalf of the people of Newfoundland and Labrador," said Minister Rideout. "While this funding will not solve all the fiscal problems in our healthcare system, it is a step in the right direction. Government continues to work to improve the fiscal, economic and social health of the province," said Minister Rideout. "We are working with the federal government to provide our province with the means to achieve self-reliance." Media contact: Lori Lee Oates, Communications, (709) 729-3015 or (709) 690-8403 2004 09 21 4:40 p.m. |
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