Teach-in urges increased IHS funding and resources to fight AIDS pandemic globally.

To encourage youth participation in the political process, the Native American Women's Health Education Resource Center cosponsored a teach-in for high school students at Marty Indian School focusing on HIV/AIDS in both the Native American community and as a global crisis. Planned by intern Amee Chew, with Marty School Substance Abuse Program counselor Vonnie Zephier and school nurse Dyan Banta, the event culminated in a school-wide letter-writing session urging Senators to support $15 billion in funding for Indian Health Services and at least $2.5 billion to fight the global AIDS pandemic in FY 2003.

Since 1993, funding for IHS has fallen behind the rate of inflation and the 28% growth of its patient population. IHS now spends only about $1,300 per patient every year in comparison to the national average of $3,800. The severe shortage of resources has translated into reduced physical exam, dental, and referral services, as well as a rationing of specialty care for a Native population that alarmingly bears a disproportionate brunt of diseases such as diabetes and tuberculosis. Lethal cases regularly slip through the cracks and since 1997, 16 of the 49 hospitals run by IHS have been cited as "among the worst in the nation," because they failed to meet minimum quality standards set by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations.

Yet the federal government is mandated by treaty obligations to provide health care to Native people. IHS itself has estimated $15 billion ($8 billion in one-time investments and $7 billion in recurring annual expenditures) is needed to bring the services up to par, using a standard of the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program. IHS's current budget is $2.9 billion, and President Bush's proposed increase of $57 million for FY 2003 merely covers inflation.

During the teach-in, Chew delivered a presentation raising these issues and introducing the letter-writing campaign as a step to help address them. Additionally, she linked the lack of adequate health care on a local level to a global crisis in health care access and resource control - a situation of global economic stratification, racism, and sexism manifested in part by the global AIDS pandemic.

Over 40 million people worldwide are living with HIV/AIDS -- an estimated 38 million of whom reside in poor countries that lack the resources to launch adequate treatment and prevention programs. In much of sub-Saharan Africa, 15-year-old boys have a 50% chance of dying from AIDS, while in Botswana, the projected death rate is 85% if increased interventions are not undertaken. Moreover, HIV infection rates are rapidly increasing among youth in Asia, Latin America, Russia and other poor regions of the world; Asia's crisis is predicted to surpass Africa's within ten years without stronger interventions. At the same time, within the U.S. HI V/AIDS disproportionately affects minority groups, and the rate of AIDS incidence in proportion to population size is increasing fastest among Native Americans compared to other racial groups.

In spite of comprising 25-30% of the world's economy, Chew said, the U.S. contributes a smaller proportion of its GNP to foreign aid than any other industrialized nation. Several independent studies have estimated that funds in the ballpark of $10 billion per year are necessary to mount an effective response to the global AIDS crisis. In proportion to its share of the world's economic wealth, this request would translate into a share of at least $2.5 billion on the part of the U.S. However, the federal government currently contributes a tenth of this level to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB, and Malaria.

The students listened avidly and afterwards, some expressed interest in organizing further. Chew's presentation followed a speech by Willie Bettleyoun, a Native American living with AIDS, who raised awareness about the disease, its effects, prevention, and health in the Native American community. Bettelyoun coupled chilling statistics with a cautionary message to the audience members to care for themselves. The event resulted in dozens of signed postcards addressed to Senators Tom Daschle and Tim Johnson, and inaugurates a more expansive community advocacy campaign for voter registration and increased IHS funding.