Cause of H1N1 Mortality Related to Ongoing Overall Health Disparities

WASHINGTON, DC - A study recently published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report showed that Native Americans and Alaska Natives are four times more likely to die from H1N1 than members of other racial and ethnic groups. This is of particular concern for Native American and Alaska Native adults and adolescents living with HIV - especially those with low CD4 cell counts or AIDS - since people living with HIV may experience more severe complications from seasonal influenza and, quite possibly, H1N1 infection.

“This latest epidemic is just one more disease Native peoples have had to endure,” says Harlan Pruden, Co-Founder and Council Member of NorthEast Two-Spirit Society, based in New York City, and member of the National People of Color HIV/AIDS Working Group (POC). “The unspoken sad reality is that the death of one person could mean the death of one’s people. For Native people, this is a matter of cultural survival. We call on allies, policy-makers, and private and public leaders to stand with our community at this time to confront not only H1N1, but many of the underlying co-factors that create an environment where a simple flu can wipe us from this land.”

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If you haven’t already read it, be sure to check out the latest issue of POZ Magazine. NE2SS elder Kent Lesbock(pictured above) is quoted in the article “Rest for the Weary“.

Article Date: 29 Aug 2008 - 3:00 PDT

In a historically unprecedented move, over 30 national HIV/AIDS organizations and leaders representing African-American, Latino, Native American/Alaska Native, and Asian & Pacific Islander communities have joined forces in an urgent call for the development and implementation of a comprehensive national AIDS strategy. The demands to the Democratic and Republican presidential nominees come in response to long-standing concerns about unmet needs for targeted HIV research, treatment access, medical care and prevention in communities of color. A recently-released report from the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on estimates of new HIV infections in the United States amplifies the crises faced in communities of color.

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