Aboriginal Canadians are blaming Health Canada for the large number of members of the Assembly of First Nations who have been infected by the Influenza A (H1N1) virus.

Assembly of First Nations public health adviser Dr. Kim Barker told at a Senate investigation on Tuesday of Ottawa's response to the swine flu outbreak that Health Canada has deliberately halted shipping to native communities hand sanitizers with alcohol base of up to 70 percent because of high alcoholism rates among the aborigines.

Barker said, quoted by the Globe and Mail, "We heard that ... people were spending days discussing the pros and cons of a non-alcohol-based hand sanitizer versus an alcohol-based one because of the concerns about addictions in communities. It was absolutely outrageous."

Health Canada deputy minister for First Nations and Inuit Health Branch Anne-Marie Robinson admitted to the Senate committee that public health officials and native chiefs debated over the issue lengthily last month. The debate was triggered by rare community experiences when there were incidents of hand sanitizers thefts and admission by some natives of the misdemeanor because of alcohol addiction.

David Harper, chief of the Garden Hill First Nation in Manitoba recalled that after waiting for about 18 days for hand sanitizer deliveries he personally purchased the item in Winnipeg. Ottawa eventually sent 2,500 bottles. Harper acknowledged the alcohol issue is a legitimate concern that undistributed hand sanitizers are now locked for safety.

Health Canada, in its advisory to aboriginal communities at the height of the Avian Influenza crisis, told First Nation members handling gaming fowl to either wash their gloves and hands with soap and warm water or use an alcohol-based hand gel with 60 to 90 percent alcohol content to kill the avian flu virus.