The Indigenous Health Alliance, led by Vice-Chief Robert Merasty (Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations), Grand Chief Sheila North (Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak), Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler (Nishnawbe Aski Nation) with members of the HealthCareCAN Board at the 2016 Great Healthcare Debate.
Indigenous Health Alliance
In mid-2013, three First Nations in Saskatchewan tasked a mixed group of health experts to answer the question "Why are Indigenous Peoples so sick?" As we dug into that question, it quickly became apparent that the solutions to Indigenous health disparities would not come from understanding sickness, but from understanding why other Canadians were so healthy.
As a team lead with the Alliance, over four years we created a framework for health system transformation that was presented to the federal government as a proposal from three Indigenous provincial/territorial organizations (IPTOs) and with the support of the Assembly of First Nations.
Since completing the project in 2017, the IPTOs have gone onto health transformation initiatives of their own.