MEDICAL SERVICES

Wairarapa Times-Age, 21 June 1939, Page 6

MEDICAL SERVICES

CANADA’S MOST NORTHERLY DOCTOR. EDMONTON. Canada’s most northerly doctor is stationed at Aklavik, on the Canadian Arctic ocean and more than one hundred miles north of the Arctic Circle. In the course of his regular patrols, the Canadian Government doctor at that post travels approximately 1.800 miles by dog team and about the same distance by schooner each year visiting the different Eskimo and Indian settlements. In cases of emergencies, he uses airplane transportation to reach his patients. There are two hospitals in operation at Aklavik. These are equipped with electric lighting, X-ray, dental equipment, operating rooms and other modern facilities. The native population of Canada’s Western Arctic is slowly but steadily increasing. The general health of the natives is good and doctors, stationed at the principal centres of population, report that mortality 1 ,, particularly in infants, has been reduced largely as a result of the medical assistance and educational facilities provided by the Government. In the main the Western Arctic Eskimos are an intelligent, happy, industrious type of native, who subsist by fishing, hunting and trapping. In order to protect their interests, the Canadian Government has restricted the issue of trapping and hunting licences, set aside large areas as native game preserves, and established closed seasons for the more valuable species of wild life. In addition, reindeer have been introduced into the Western Arctic in an effort io place the natives on a more permanent basis by providing a stable supply of food and clothing.