Conference proceeding from the annual meeting of the Canadian Association of Pediatric Surgeons: “Caring for indigenous children: A CAPS perspective”

In 2015, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission called for health care institutions to address structural barriers that affect Indigenous families seeking health care in Canada. Pediatric care centers in Canada have failed to adequately address these, resulting in continued negative and life-threatening impacts on Indigenous children and families across Canada. Indigenous (First Nations, Metis, and Inuit) families across Canada “have an equal right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health” according to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. These rights have yet to be acknowledged or granted to Indigenous Peoples by Federal or Provincial governments in Canada. In the face of significant and long-standing disparities in health care that Indigenous children experience following surgical procedures, and in response to the Calls to Action from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC), the Canadian Association of Pediatric Surgeons (CAPS) hosted a session at their annual general meeting in the fall of 2019 entitled “Caring for Indigenous Children: A CAPS Perspective”. A summary of the topics presented at the meeting are discussed in this paper.