This page is an archive. Its content may no longer be accurate and was last updated on the original publication date. It is intended for reference and as a historical record only. For hep C questions, call Help4Hep BC at 1-888-411-7578.
Anyone interested in eliminating hepatitis C should read this article, “In the eyes of Indigenous people in Canada: exposing the underlying colonial etiology of hepatitis C and the imperative for trauma-informed care,” which provides an accessible pathway to approaching Indigenous health issues in culturally-safe, historic trauma-informed ways.
It is the best article we’ve seen about dealing with liver disease within Canada’s aboriginal populations, and the entire October 3, 2018 article is free online from the Canadian Liver Journal. Authors include BC’s own Sadeem Fayed, Alexandra King (recently moved to USask), Malcolm King (recently moved to USask), Stewart Gonzalez (Sempulyan), and Chris Macklin, plus Jessica Demeria (Ont.), Norma Rabbitskin (Sask.), and Bonnie Healy (Alb.). Link: https://canlivj.utpjournals.press/doi/full/10.3138/canlivj.2018-0009
Key to this article for us was the way it showed how our definitions of behavioural risk-factors and how we relate them to cultural factors can drastically affect the way we do research and the ways we allocate healthcare resources, set priorities, or simply think about members of various populations who have, or are at risk of contracting, liver disease. These “lenses” are challenged by the concept of Two-Eyed Seeing which is clearly defined for us in the article, along with the related concepts of historical trauma and historic-trauma-related responses. We highly recommend this article as both a helpful introduction and a reference guide as we move forward in eliminating hepatitis C from BC, from Canada, and from our world. It may be a little hard to follow in a couple places, but please persevere – you will be glad you did! We welcome discussion inspired by this article and will print it in this space.
