August is National Immunization Awareness Month (NIAM). This annual observance highlights the efforts of healthcare professionals to protect patients of all ages against vaccine-preventable diseases through on-time vaccination. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has a variety of webinars during this month in addition to vaccination resources. Read more here.

In concert with NIAM, the National Indian Health Board (NIHB), National Congress of American Indians (NCAI), and National Council of Urban Indian Health (NCUIH) submitted a letter to House and Senate appropriators urging them to ensure a minimum 5% statutory set-aside in funding for COVID-19 vaccine distribution for the Indian Health Service, Tribal Nations, and urban Indian organizations in the next COVID-19 pandemic relief package. Read more here.

As several regions of the United States continue to follow upward trends in COVID-19 cases, inconsistencies in recording the race and ethnicity data in hospitals has lead to poor estimations of how many American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) people are affected. As a result of such statistical gaps, properly allocating public resources to afflicted communities becomes increasingly difficult to determine. Read more here.

On August 03, 2020, the StrongHearts Native Helpline launched sexual violence advocacy as part of their list of services for American Indians and Alaska Natives including crisis intervention, peer support, and referrals to Native-centered resources. Read more here.

The Office of Minority Health (OMH) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has released the following funding opportunity The State/Tribal/Territorial Partnership Initiative to Document and Sustain Disparity-Reducing Interventions. OMH intends projects funded under this initiative to help build the capacity of Tribal, state, and territorial governmental health agencies to achieve two main goals: (1) test modifications to existing public health programs or practices (interventions) to assess if the modified interventions are successful in significantly improving health outcomes for selected health issues; and (2) develop effective plan(s) to sustain successful interventions after the award period. Projects are expected to address two health issues, one from each of the following two lists: (1) HIV, maternal mortality and morbidity, physical activity, or substance use disorder; and (2) nutrition, sickle cell disease and trait, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, lupus, or cancer prevention (i.e., addressing risk factor(s) specifically for stomach, liver, or cervical cancer). Read more here.

The National Indian Health Board (NIHB) is pleased to announce Supporting Tribes to Increase Commercial Tobacco Cessation, a funding opportunity for Tribal governments, Tribal health departments, and Tribal health care facilities/health systems seeking to implement projects to increase commercial tobacco cessation, electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) cessation and ‘quit smoking’ attempts by promoting evidence-based services and activities, and/or adapting evidence-based health systems changes. Read more here.

The National Indian Health Board (NIHB) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are pleased to announce the third cycle of funding for Strong Systems, Stronger Communities (SSSC) for Tribes. This opportunity continues NIHB’s commitment to the strengthening of Tribal public health systems by offering support and technical assistance directly to Tribes for projects designed to build their public health capacity. Read more here.

For questions about this Request for Applications, contact Sarah Price ([email protected]).

FY 2019-2020 PI/SI Cohort attending the in-person SSSC training in Washington, DC

The National Indian Health Board (NIHB) is pleased to announce Building Tribal Provider and Patient Capacity for Addressing Opioid Misuse Prevention and Treatment made possible through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. The funding will provide an opportunity to increase the level of programming, research, policy development, coordination, and/or communication between Tribal programs, leadership, community, and key partners involved in addressing the health consequences of the opioid epidemic. Read more here.

The National Indian Health Board (NIHB) is seeking to create a pool of resources which Tribes can access when planning or implementing their own COVID-19 response. To this end, NIHB is asking Tribes to share with us any tools, operational plans, guides, policies, communication products, etc. that has helped your Tribe combat this pandemic.  The materials can be de-identified, if needed. These resources will be placed online within NIHB’s COVID-19 Tribal Response Center alongside other community health materials. We hope this aids Tribes to build on successes and support each other in the collective effort to mitigate the impact of the pandemic on Indian Country. 

Learn more about Tribal Public Health Accreditation and performance improvement here.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Division of Reproductive Health has released a national communication campaign that brings attention to maternal morbidity and mortality in the United States. “Hear Her” aims to raise awareness of possibly life-threatening warning signs during and in the year after pregnancy and encourages the people supporting pregnant and postpartum women to listen and take action when she expresses concerns. Read more here.

The National Network of Disease Intervention Training Centers (NNDITC) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will launch contact tracing and case investigation training sessions at the end of August. The “National COVID-19 Virtual Skills-Based Training Program” will train staff to support public health systems throughout the United States as they mobilize to address COVID-19. In addition to a Coordinating Center, the four Regional Training Centers will support two training courses per week to accommodate demand. Registration will be open to all jurisdictions by August 6, 2020 at the following link here.

The National Indian Health Board is committed to serving Tribal Nations in response to the coronavirus outbreak. We welcome your requests and feedback. Contact Courtney Wheeler at [email protected] or 202-507-4081.

Pediatric vaccine ordering and administration have declined during the COVID-19 pandemic as parents have stayed home. Maintaining routine childhood immunization is essential in order to prevent outbreaks of preventable diseases. This webinar with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD), will discuss strategies for ensuring safe well visits and building vaccine confidence among parents of young during the COVID-19 pandemic. Read more here.

The U.S Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Minority Health (OMH) is hosting a virtual symposium to highlight Tribal, state, territorial and community-based efforts to address COVID-19 among racial and ethnic minority populations. The Advancing the Response to COVID-19: Sharing Promising Programs and Practices for Racial and Ethnic Minority Communities virtual symposium will feature presentations and strategies developed for public health leaders and community organizations confronting the pandemic. Read more here.