Summary of NACHA meeting

May 15 & 16, 2006
Ottawa , Ontario

Alita Sauvé opened the meeting with a prayer. Mary Jamieson, the meeting facilitator, welcomed participants to the meeting. Grafton Spooner, Manager, External and Government Relations of the HIV/AIDS Division of the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), provided NACHA with an update on PHAC’s activities including a cost estimate of NACHA’s work plan. NACHA noted the importance of an annual report to maintaining accountability and communicating its work to stakeholders. It asked PHAC to begin processes for preparing the annual report in time for the International AIDS Conference in August.

Jocelyne Sirois, Program Officer at the Communicable Diseases Control Division (CDCD) of the First Nations and Inuit Health Branch (FNIHB), provided NACHA with an update on activities at FNIHB. She noted that FNIHB would be beginning work over the summer on a pamphlet describing the Non Insured Health Benefits as requested by NACHA in a Template for Advice. NACHA asked to be kept advised as the pamphlet is developed

Fernand Comeau of the HIV/AIDS Division of PHAC joined the meeting to provide NACHA with an update on Leading Together: Canada Takes Action on HIV/AIDS (2005-2010) and on a logic model to help partners understand their role in the Federal Initiative to Address HIV/AIDS in Canada and the relationship between its various components. NACHA discussed the value of an Aboriginal-specific analysis of Leading Together and asked PHAC to begin processes for developing the analysis.

Sandy Premakanthan of the Centre for Infectious Disease Prevention and Control joined the meeting by teleconference to provide NACHA with an update on preparations of Canada’s 2006 World AIDS Day Report. He noted that reports in the past had focused on a description of Canada’s response to addressing HIV/AIDS. However, this year’s report would include a description of outcomes and results. NACHA identified a small working group to participate in the editorial process for the 2006 World AIDS Day Report.

Kathryn Allebone of the NACHA Secretariat at PHAC reviewed the status of action items identified at earlier meetings. NACHA made a number of decisions to expedite the completion of outstanding items. NACHA’s Métis Caucus raised the issue of the Métis not being eligible for the Non-Insured Health Benefits (NIHB) Program. It was noted that changing NIHB’s mandate would require a political decision that was beyond NACHA’s mandate and abilities. However, NACHA agreed to discuss, at a future meeting, a Template for Advice on the matter, to be drafted by the Métis Caucus.

NACHA reviewed its 2003-2006 strategic plan and identified changes to bring it up to date. NACHA also considered its work plan activities against the logic model presented earlier in the day by Fernand Comeau. At the end of the discussion, NACHA asked the Secretariat to arrange for the strategic plan to be updated in light of the foregoing discussion.

NACHA approved the Record of Decision from its February/March 2006 meeting and directed the Secretariat to circulate the approved document to the full Council.

NACHA reviewed the Statement on Meaningful Engagement of Aboriginal People presented in the document Making It Our Way: A Community Mobilization Toolkit by the Canadian Aboriginal AIDS Network. It asked the Secretariat to work with the Co-Chairs on developing a preamble to the statement and to make the changes identified so that it can begin to use the statement in its work.

NACHA heard feedback from the Métis Caucus on the recently completed research paper HIV/AIDS Issues Affecting Métis in Canada. It was agreed that the Métis Caucus should develop a statement of support by NACHA for the paper, which NACHA would consider at a future meeting. NACHA identified the need to develop a follow-up paper that would provide a more in-depth situational analysis of the Métis and HIV/AIDS. NACHA also agreed that a situational analysis of the Inuit and HIV/AIDS was needed and agreed to add this to its strategic plan. It asked its Métis Caucus and Inuit Community (Caucus) to prepare an outline of the scope of work of the situational analyses for discussion at the July teleconference of full Council.

NACHA confirmed its earlier decision to replace the NACHA Biennial Summit with an annual policy forum. It was noted that the summits are expensive to hold and that holding a summit in 2006 would significantly impact NACHA’s operating budget, the number of face-to-face meetings it can hold and, ultimately, its ability to produce policy advice. An annual policy forum would provide an opportunity for input from the community as well a mechanism for reporting on NACHA’s activities. NACHA agreed with a proposal to hold the annual policy forum in conjunction with CAAN’s annual skills-building workshops and general meeting. Holding the policy forum at the same time as the CAAN event would relieve some of the pressures on NACHA’s budget, since the CAAN event would bring in a pool of engaged individuals who could participate in the NACHA policy forum. The first such policy forum would be held in the Fall of 2007.

NACHA received an update on preparations for the International Indigenous Peoples Satellite (IIPS) being held on August 11 and 12, just prior to the XVI International AIDS Conference. It was noted that the satellite organizers are hoping to establish an indigenous people’s network on HIV/AIDS as one of the legacies of the IIPS. NACHA also heard about other indigenous-related events being organized as part of the XVI International AIDS Conference. Copies of the Toronto Charter: The Indigenous Peoples Action Plan on HIV/AIDS were circulated to NACHA members with a request for comments. The Charter is being developed with input from indigenous peoples from around the world for presentation at the AIDS Conference.

NACHA received an update from the Surveillance and Risk Assessment Division (SRAD) of PHAC on work to improve Aboriginal HIV/AIDS surveillance data. NACHA reiterated its concerns about the completeness and accuracy of existing data and established a working group to work with SRAD on addressing these concerns in the Fall of 2006.

NACHA agreed to hold its next face-to-face meeting on: October 2 and 3, 2006, in Quebec City. Rick Kotowich closed the meeting with a prayer.