Project Materials
HIV Resource Guide: Sexually-transmitted diseases/infections (STDs) are a problem central to the mandate of public health within the United States, and their impact is profoundly felt among American Indians and Alaska Native (AI/AN) populations. In 2010, increased STD rates and outbreaks in North Dakota and South Dakota refocused attention back to gonorrhea, chlamydia, and later syphilis, raising the possibility that human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) may follow, as the modes of transmission are the same. Motivated by this potential, the Capacity Building Assistance (CBA) and HIV Project at GPTCHB received special funding to compile an HIV Resource Guide to North Dakota and South Dakota tribal communities. GPTEC will look to update this resource guide as often as is feasible.
National Vaccination Project: GPTEC has worked with national and regional partners, subject-matter experts, community health representatives (CHRs), and the Great Plains and National CHR Associations to develop materials to promote adult vaccination in tribal communities. Materials include YouTube video PSAs, posters, reference materials, and others.
Substance Abuse & Hepatitis C Messaging: These materials were developed following extensive collaboration with representatives from the Indian Health Service, Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board, and KAT Communications. They highlight the nature of substance abuse as a chronic disease, highlight its relationship to Hepatitis C, and advocate for a response to both.
Tribal Public Health Codes
“The term ‘public health law’ is often used to refer any statute or rule that protects public health and establishes a Public Health Authority to enforce the code… The code identifies a person who is in charge of receiving reportable disease data and responding to the information with the appropriate action. As sovereigns, Tribes have the power to act on data from their community in a way that protects the community. Without Tribal public health laws the Tribes may have difficulty responding to surveillance results.”
(Tribal Public Health Code Forum Report, May 2015)
Background Information (from the Tribal Public Health Code Forum – May 16, 2015)
- Tribal Public Health Code Forum Report
- Protecting People Through Tribal Public Health Codes: Jennifer Giroux; MD, MPH, GPTCHB. (May 2014)
- Infectious Disease Disparities Among Tribes in the Northern Plains: Dr. Corey Smith, GPTCHB (May 2014)
- South Dakota Codified Laws Relating to Contagious Disease Control: Justin Williams, South Dakota Department of Health (May 2014)
- North Dakota State Public Health Laws: Tracy Miller, State of North Dakota (2014)
- Tribal Public Health Law Database Overview: Villegas, Pytalkski, NCAI (May 2014)
- Using Law to Advance Tribal Public Health Law: Aila Hoss, CDC (May 2014)
- Developing Tribal Public Health Codes: Christine Folsom-Smith (April 2014)
- Public Health Legal Preparedness in Indian Country: Bryen, Schaefer, DeBruyn, and Stier (April 2009)
- Public Health Law: An Essential Tool for Public Health: Presentation by Carolyn Angus-Hornbuckle, NIHB (May 2014)
Sample Codes
- Model Tribal Health and Safety Code (draft): from the Intertribal Council of Arizona (2005)
- Model Health and Sanitation Code (draft): from the Wind River Indian Reservation (2009)