FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 31, 2009
CONTACT: Maile Taualii, PhD, MPH
Scientific Director
Phone: (206) 812-3030
mailet@uihi.org
(SEATTLE, WA) — A new report released by the Urban Indian Health Institute, Seattle Indian Health Board provides an analysis of data collected from numerous sources about health disparities facing American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI/AN) living in urban areas. Funding for the study was provided by the Office of Minority Health. The report summarizes health disparities affecting urban AI/AN compared to both Healthy People 2010 (HP 2010) Objectives and to the general population.
The study found sixteen of the analyzed HP 2010 Objectives with rates among urban AI/AN at least three times higher than the established target rates. Nineteen analyzed HP 2010 Objectives showed at least a 50% higher rate among urban AI/AN of the adverse outcome compared to the general population. Health disparities identified in comparison to both HP 2010 and the general population include the following: health insurance coverage, pap test receipt, post-neonatal deaths, deaths from sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), prenatal care beginning in first trimester of pregnancy, suicide attempts by adolescents and marijuana, inhalants and spit tobacco use by adolescents. “These alarming rates of health disparities demonstrate the continued need to focus attention on American Indians and Alaska Natives residing in cities,” reports Ralph Forquera, Executive Director of the Urban Indian Health Institute, Seattle Indian Health Board. “It is extremely important to ensure that these and other findings on the health of Native people are reported widely if disparities are to be addressed and eliminated.”
Also included in the report is a description of known limitations of current national data sources when assessing the health of urban AI/AN. The report offers recommendations on how to use information for advocacy and program planning purposes and ways to improve national data collection for urban AI/AN analysis. The findings highlight the severity of health inequities faced by urban AI/AN and key health issues facing this population.
To access the report, Visibility Through Data: Health Information for Urban American Indian and Alaska Native Communities, visit www.uihi.org.
