A tribal college instructor will study the effects of long COVID; the IHS digs into a 30-year-old construction backlog; and one tribe talks about how it became the first in the nation to clean up a superfund site poisoning its lands.
Here is our bi-weekly round up of health equity news from around Indian Country.
Long-COVID Study
Blackfeet Community College instructor Dianna Arnoux-Whiteman (Blackfeet) has been awarded a research grant to study the effects of long COVID on the Blackfeet Nation Reservation. Funded by the Montana IDeA Networks of Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE) program at Montana State University, Arnoux-Whiteman’s research will aggregate data on lingering aftereffects of COVID-19 to raise awareness and provide care for those affected.
From Toxic to Thriving
For 80 years, a small tribal community in north-eastern Oklahoma was the center of federal lead and zinc mining. When mining operations ceased in the 1970s, the Quapaw Nation was left with 40 square miles of toxic soil and water and collapsing tunnels. The area was declared an EPA Superfund site in 1983, but contractors hired to clean up the waste left the site half cleared when federal money ran out; so the tribe took matters into their own hands. Earlier this month, The Guardian reported on how the Quapaw Nation became the first and only tribe in the United States to carry out a Superfund clean-up, restoring healthy soil to expand its agricultural operations.
Digging into Backlog
The Indian Health Service (IHS) is set to break ground next year on a brand new facility in Albuquerque, N.M. The construction marks the end to a 30-year wait for 60 aging health care facilities across Indian Country that were identified in 1993 as in need of replacement or repair. In February, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy announced a $1 billion investment in tackling the three-decade-old backlog. While the investment is historic, it’s estimated that $8 billion is needed to adequately address all facilities on the 1993 list.
MMIP
The Utah state legislature is advancing a bill to address the systemic gaps that drive the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples’ crisis by establishing a training program for law enforcement officers. The bill comes after a 2023 report that showed Native people represent 5% of the state’s murder victims, despite only making up 1.5% of its population.
Cancer
The University of Oklahoma’s Native Nations Center for Tribal Policy Research released a report examining how the IHS’s Purchased/Referred Care (PRC) program intersects with cancer screening, diagnosis, treatment and follow-up for eligible tribal citizens. Native people have disproportionately high rates of cancer mortality, which experts attribute to barriers in accessing diagnostic care and preventative screening.
“When someone is facing a cancer diagnosis, timing matters,” report author and tribal health care policy analyst Grace Fox (Seminole) said in a press release. “The Purchased/Referred Care program often serves as the bridge to specialty oncology services that aren’t available locally. Understanding that process – from referral to authorization to payment – can make a meaningful difference for patients and for tribal health systems.”
Sober Living Fraud Continues
Investigative reporter Jasmine Demers spoke with Phoenix radio station KJZZ about ongoing sober living home fraud targeting Native Americans three years after the scheme was uncovered.
Conferences and Symposiums
Early bird registration for the National Tribal Health Conference ends tomorrow, March 31. Held by the National Indian Health Board, the week-long conference brings together tribal advocates and leaders in behavioral and public health. Events include tribal listening and consultation sessions, hands-on training opportunities, plenary sessions, and workshops on Indian Health funding, the business of medicine, health equity, Indigenous determinants of health, Tribal public health, behavioral health, culture, environmental health, and climate change.
Tickets are now on sale for the National Community Health Aid Program Symposium, held on May 5th–7th in Billings, MT. Community health aides bridge the gaps between clinical care and rural access by providing care directly to tribal communities, including health screenings, education, chronic disease management, first aid and emergency care, and supporting maternal and child health initiatives. The symposium will share best practices, address regulatory and funding challenges, and examine partnerships across tribes and states. Registration is free.
