First among unequals

Dr Muiris Houston recounts the tragic tale of how smallpox ravaged the Canadian First Nation population in British Columbia in the 1860s, and how the health status of that population remains a cause of concern some 150 years later. On my latest visit to Canada, I became aware of a medical horror story. It involves the health of the indigenous or First Nations peoples. We were staying in a lovely part of Vancouver Island — Campbell River — when a visit to an excellent local museum opened my eyes to the awful story of smallpox in the region. In the…