On Jan. 12, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services unveiled two new public service announcement (PSA) campaigns targeting American Indians and Alaska Natives, urging them to get vaccinated for the H1N1 flu.
At a press conference announcing the campaigns, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said the virus has hit Indian Country especially hard, citing a CDC report released last month that showed that Native Americans are four times more likely to die from H1N1 than the general population.
Sebelius said American Indians/Alaska Natives are at a greater risk because they have higher rates of conditions such as asthma, diabetes and heart disease. It is also due to the higher numbers that live in poverty and that lack access to medical care.
“And this message is really urgent in Indian Country,” she said.
The HHS and IHS hope that the PSAs, produced for radio and TV, get that message out. The announcements give strategies for preventing the virus, like hand washing, coughing/sneezing into a sleeve and staying home from work if sick. They also stress getting vaccinated.
The series of six TV PSAs feature Cherokee actor Wes Studi. There are also regional PSAs starring Sebelius and IHS Director Dr. Yvette Roubideaux.
In addition to getting vaccinated, Roubideaux encourages people to educate everyone on how to take precautions and prevent spreading the virus.
As of mid-November, there were 47 million H1N1 cases in the United States, with more than 200,000 hospitalizations and nearly 10,000 deaths, Roubideaux said. And she stressed that there may be a third wave, as influenza typically peaks from January to March.
For more information on H1N1, go to www.flu.gov.
I had questioned the distribution in our SD area of why IHS was not receiving the vaccines the same time the State did. If all the indicators show there are health disparities why were they the last to receive the vaccines and not the first. The high statistics show the too late syndrom from officials once again. All the PAs won't help if it is the communities and most people have no means or can't get to the vaccines...this type of wide spread distribution should have happened way back in Oct 2009 since it showed up in 3rd world conditions In Mexico...no consideration was made for United States 3rd world population until just recently. Indigenous First Americans are always last on the list and they should be first since we live in our homeland.
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