Lapses in federal health policy and reliance on fractured tribal structures raise fears coronavirus could hide on Native American reservations long after America goes back to work
“There is not an agency that I’m aware of that has dedicated resources in any meaningful way to epidemiology in Indian Country,” said Bryan Newland, chairman of the Bay Mills Indian Community in far-north Michigan. “We’re doing this all on the fly.”
“This is going to be a huge challenge, and I really haven’t heard the discussion of data collection and cohesiveness,” Nicole Redvers, a professor at the University of North Dakota who works closely with tribal organizations, said of the informal case tracking occurring across many tribes. Health data is inherently difficult to collect across Indian Country, where tribes operate as sovereign entities and have varying connections to federal and state authorities. On remote reservations, a lack of Internet or landline phones further hinders communication.
“Our system is far, far behind – and one of the immediate problems with surveillance is we do not have interoperability,” said Stacy Bohlen, executive director of the National Indian Health Board, which represents tribal government on health care issues. The IHS disputed that figure, saying that approximately 137 officers had been temporarily deployed elsewhere “in support of HHS-wide efforts” to fight the virus – and that it’s working to ensure patient care for Native populations is not affected.
“Often the problem is the federal government not dealing directly with Indian nations and our health systems as sovereign to sovereign,” said Chuck Hoskin Jr., principal chief of the Cherokee Nation, which operates the nation’s largest tribal health system. “We’re the front line of public health in this region. We need a streamlined way to get these resources.”
IHS said only that it’s shipped out 1.3 million respirators this month that are expired but deemed suitable for use, and that its regional supply centers have another 3.4 million on hand. The agency on Friday announced plans to spend an additional $40 million on protective equipment.
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