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Upcoming
NIHB EVENTS!
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Join the NIHB Team!
Interested in joining a mission driven organization dedicated to
affirming and empowering American Indian and Alaska Native Peoples to protect and improve health and reduce health disparities?
NIHB seeks qualified candidates for the following open positions based in Washington DC:
Stay up to date on Health Policy news with NIHB's
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PHAB's Tribal Guidance Document is Available for Vetting
Comments due by Sunday, Dec. 31, 2017
The Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB) has released the Supplemental Process and Documentation Guidance for Tribal Public Health Department Accreditation for public vetting as per their policy and protocol for releasing new products. This document is intended to provide additional assistance to Tribal health departments who may be applying for PHAB accreditation in using the PHAB Standards and Measures, Version 1.5.
PHAB is the national organization responsible for reviewing and accrediting public health departments in the US, including Tribal public health departments who choose to become accredited. Public health accreditation is an important process which encourages the highest level of performance from public health departments. The process includes measuring department performance against a national set of standards based on the 10 essential services of public health. Accreditation also encourages quality improvement, and recognizes the achievements of a health department.
For Tribal public health organizations interested in vetting this document, you may comment on as many or few measures as you wish, as well as the general format of the document. In addition, PHAB is interested in collecting Tribal-specific examples to accompany the documentation guidance. Tribal public health organizations who submit examples will receive a printed copy of the PHAB Standards and Measures, v1.5, the Guide to Public Health Accreditation, and a packet of additional accreditation material. Comments will be accepted until December 31, 2017.
For the draft
Supplemental Process and Documentation Guidance for Tribal Public Health Department Accreditation that is intended to be used alongside the PHAB Standards and Measures, please click
HERE
To provide feedback on the Supplemental Guidance click
HERE
For questions regarding Tribal Public Health Department Accreditation or the Tribal Public Health Accreditation Support Initiative (ASI), visit the NIHB ASI website
HERE or contact Karrie Joseph at [email protected].
The CDC Releases a Report on Viral Hepatitis Elimination
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released the report
Progress Toward Viral Hepatitis Elimination: National Progress Report with Data through 2015. This report highlights progress in eliminating Hepatitis A, B, and C nationwide.
American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI/AN) showed excellent progress towards these goals, however more work is needed to meet the national goals for 2020.
AI/AN had the lowest rates of Hepatitis A infection based on race/ethnicity, and have already reached the national goal for 2020 of fewer than 0.30 cases per 100,000 U.S. population. AI/AN also had the second highest percentage of children aged 19-35 months in 2015 who received 2 or more doses of Hepatitis A vaccine based on race/ethnicity (61.3%).
As of 2015, AI/AN children also had the highest percentage of receiving the Hepatitis B vaccine within 3 days of birth (80.7%) based on race/ethnicity. However, the rates of Hepatitis B infection in AI/AN adults is still above the 2020 goal of less than 0.5 acute cases per 100,000 U.S. population.
Unfortunately, AI/AN still have the highest rates of Hepatitis C, and of Hepatitis C related deaths compared to other races/ethnicities. The report makes recommendations for the overall reduction of incidence and death from Hepatitis C; these include increasing the proportion of people tested, using surveillance to insure that people with Hepatitis C are referred to proper treatment, encouraging community level prevention programs (such as access to syringe services programs), linking people to medication-assisted treatment programs, testing, and treatment, and building partnerships to promote prevention in higher risk areas.
To read the full CDC report, click
HERE
For more information about Hepatitis C in AI/AN communities,
please contact Shervin Aazimi, NIHB Public Health Project Coordinator, at
[email protected]
or at 202-507-4088.
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Funding and Opportunities
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Proposals due Friday, Nov. 17, 2017
Community Science is interested in creating a tool to educate American Indian/Alaska Native communities, as well as other minority populations and people with low health literacy on important health messages. Community Science will fund 15-20 people at $2,000 each to share promising practices, strategies, and tools, provide materials, and review the final health literacy toolkit.
For more information, click HERE
CDC Calls for American Indian/Alaska Native Public Health Success Stories
Story Submissions Due Monday, Jan. 15, 2018
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is requesting stories that highlight how Tribal nations have contributed to public health. CDC plans to host an exhibit at their
David J. Sencer CDC Museum in Atlanta, GA, showcasing the "strengths and resilience of Tribal communities, their heritage and traditions, and how their culture addresses risk factors unique to Tribes and promotes their health and well-being."
The museum plans to include stories highlighting how Native traditions and wisdom have impacted public health, and to feature AI/AN individuals who have contributed to the health and wellness of their community. The museum also hopes to showcase the diversity of the AI/AN people.
The exhibition is planned to run between Sept 22, 2019 and May 1, 2020. For more information about submitting your story, click
HERE
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Sourced from Angel Ross, PolicyLink
Achieving health equity-when everyone has a just and fair opportunity to be as healthy as possible regardless of race, income, or other socially defined characteristics-is essential to building resilient communities, a prosperous economy, and a just society. Without optimal health, it is impossible for people to reach their full potential. Yet today in the United States, health disparities are persistent and growing. These inequities are not natural or inevitable, but stem from structural racism and discrimination, as well as the inequitable policies, practices, and resource allocations that create the vastly unequal conditions in which people live.
This report aims to strengthen community-driven efforts to achieve health equity by improving the online data tools that make health equity data readily available to them.
To access the report, click
HERE
Tribal Public and Environmental
Health
Think Tank, Tribal Environmental Health Stories and Resources
The APHA page also offers related resources and stories including:
- A video about the difference between traditional, sacred tobacco and commercial tobacco - watch HERE
- A video about the sacredness of place for Tribal people - watch HERE
- An article about empowering a Lakota community on Pine Ridge Reservation - read the article HERE
View the APHA page for these and more resources
HERE
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Webinar on Human Trafficking in Indian Country
Thursday, Nov. 2, 2017, 2:00pm ET
Indian Health Service (IHS) is hosting a webinar in partnership with Tribal Forensic Healthcare to discuss human trafficking in the context of Tribal communities, to incorporate recommendations from the National SAFE Protocols and Department of Justice, and to offer guidance to Tribes in a comprehensive response to human trafficking. Registration is required to participate.
Details about this
event can be found
HERE
Other important links and contact numbers include:
Hotline to report suspected Human Trafficking: 1-866-347-2423
For help from the National Human Trafficking Hotline: 1-877-373-7888 or text HELP or INFO to BeFree (233733)
Stay tuned for more information!
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