Can surveillance provide epidemiological data on Aboriginal health?

Abstract

The Canadian Paediatric Surveillance Program (CPSP) was established in 1996. This pan-Canadian active surveillance network of more than 2500 practising clinical paediatricians and paediatric subspecialists collects timely epidemiological data on rare paediatric diseases and conditions. In 2004, the Program was favourably evaluated by an external expert advisory group (EAG) (1). One of the recommendations of the EAG was for the CPSP to capture the unique entity of northern Canada by undertaking surveillance studies on diseases affecting the health of the Aboriginal population. Aboriginal (First Nations, Metis and Inuit) children and youth represent 5.8% of the entire Canadian paediatric population. Certain diseases, some with serious and even fatal outcomes, seem to have a higher incidence in the Aboriginal population. However, for many of these diseases, there is a lack of national frequency data. Epidemiological and clinical information are essential to document the burden of illness, guide clinical care and support public health actions. This article presents national epidemiological data, where information and descriptive analysis were available, on six studies undertaken by the CPSP with data on Aboriginal children: severe combined immunodeficiency diseases (SCID), neonatal herpes simplex virus infection (NHSV), congenital cytomegalovirus infection (CMV), juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), non-type 1 diabetes mellitus (NT1DM) and persistent albuminuria in type 2 diabetes mellitus (AT2D).