Even as the health news that grabs us these days is about the H1N1 virus, health workers in Montana are worried about another health crisis – a rise in cases of HIV and an even higher leap in the cases of Hepatitis C.

They attribute the problem to the increasing use of prescription drugs, which can be injected, according to today’s comprehensive Missoulian story on the issue.

The problem is especially high on the state’s Indian reservations. Roosevelt County, home to the Fort Peck Reservation, has 11,000 people and 50 cases of hepatitis C.

Kris FourStar, the communicable disease officer for the Fort Peck Tribal Health Department, recently helped start Montana’s only needle exchange program. Such programs – which supply clean needles and works to intravenous drug users – have been shown to be effective in halting the spread of disease, but the federal government prevents states from using them.

But Fort Peck is sovereign and has its own health code. FourStar is working hard to make it a success. “The networks of users are really tight,” he says. “It’s such a small community here and everyone knows everyone, so people are really wary of getting tested or reaching out for help.”

His sense of urgency is strong. Because there are high rates of alcoholism, hepatitis C is even more likely to affect a person’s health,” he says. “Some people can fight it off, but when you already have liver disease it’s more difficult.”

“It’s tragic,” he says. “The hep C rates on reservations are unbelievable.”

Gwen Florio

Tags: buffalo post, Fort Peck Indian Reservation, Hepatitis C, HIV, Native American news

Where are the Indians in Black Hills bison roundup?
Tim Giago’s column here in the Native Sun News addresses something we wondered about when we read this Rapid City Journal story about lat month’s bison roundup in Custer State Park in South Dakota. Something seemed missing. Giago addresses that something.

And speaking of bison roundups …
The one last week at the National Bison Range on western Montana’s Flathead Indian Reservation went off without a hitch, the Char-Koosta News reports here. Crowds were down from previous years, but that’s probably because the temperature took a precipitous dive last week.

Indigenous communities around the world face extra H1N1 flu threat
People on Indian reservations in the United States and on Canada’s reserves aren’t the only ones being hit extra-hard by swine flu. (See previous posts here and here.) Australia’s aboriginal people and Peru’s Matsigenka tribe are among indigenous communities reporting disproportionate numbers of cases of swine flu, according to this story in London’s Sunday Independent.

Piikani Nation asks Shell Canada to hold off on gas drilling
Tribal elders of the Piikani Nation held a prayer ceremony yesterday and performed a traditional offering in the hopes of persuading Shell Canada not to drill at the base of Mount Backes in southern Alberta. The First Nation considers the site sacred, but Shell Canada wants to explore there for sour gas, CTV Calgary reports here.

Gila River Tribe seeks to woo Chicago Cubs for spring training
So reports the Arizona Republic, here. The tribe is offering to build a new training facility if the Cubs do their spring training on the Gila River Reservation, rather than in Mesa. The The Gila River community also tried to land the Arizona Diamondbacks, who eventually opted for a site near Scottsdale on the Salt River-Pima Indian Community.

Gwen Florio

Tags: Black Hills, Chicago Cubs, Custer State Park, First Nations, Flathead Indian Reservation, Gila River Tribe, H1N1 influenza, Mount Backes, Piikani Nation, Salt-River Pima Indian Community, Shell Canada