Health News in Brief Polly Olsen New Head of Center of Excellence in Seattle
SEATTLE -- Polly Olsen (Yakama) has been named the new Director of the Native American Center of Excellence (NACOE) in the School of Medicine at the University of Washington in Seattle, one of four such centers for Native Americans in the United States. Established in 1993, the goals of the Center are to encourage American Indians/Alaska Native students to pursue careers in medicine, to promote interest in research on Indian Health issues, and to help students integrate the practice of Western medicine with Native American lifeways. The Center offers instruction in traditional medicine and provides clinical opportunities for students to work with American Indian/Alaska Native populations in rural, urban, and reservation clinics throughout the northwestern United States.
	Polly Olsen, Director of the Native American Center of Excellence (NACOE)

"I am honored to become Director of the Center of Excellence," Ms. Olsen said after her appointment. "Our mission is to encourage Native American students to pursue a career in health. We have a supportive climate for Native Americans and Alaska Natives within our program. I have a strong commitment to enhance education and career opportunities for the future Native American health care providers."

Ms. Olsen grew up on the Yakama Indian Reservation in Toppenish, WA, where her family members still reside. She steps into her new position following her predecessor, Walt Hollow, M.D., (Assinobe/Sioux), who was responsible for developing the Center of Excellence and was its first director. Ms. Olsen has been with the School of Medicine's Office of Multicultural Affairs for the last three years, and as Program Coordinator for NACOE has been responsible for the oversight of the Indian Health Pathway, recruitment and retention of Native American students, and the establishment of linkages with the regions' tribal communities. She served as interim Acting Director for NACOE from 2002-2003, and has recently been elected to the Seattle Indian Health Board.

Conference Looks at Research Issues in Indian Country

PHOENIX, AZ -- Western Regional Community Clinical Oncology Program, a non-profit cancer research organization and the U. S. Office for Human Research Protections (OHRP), are co-hosting a conference on clinical trial research on August 20th and 21st (2004) in Prescott, Arizona. The conference will address Native American concerns about research issues and educate healthcare providers and others about regulations regarding proper research.

Speakers will include OHRP Director Bernard Schwetz; Indian Health Services Support Program Director Phillip Smith; National Cancer Institute (NCI) Program Director Sheila Taube; Beverly Becenti-Pigman, Director of the Navajo Nation Human Research Review Board; Marridie J. Craig, White Mountain Apache Tribal Health Board Director, and Dr. Donald Warne, of Arizona State University Health Policy Programs.

Conference topics will include Institutional Review Board function, Ethics, Vulnerable Population participants, Informed Consent and Federal Regulatory updates. Several Arizona doctors will lead medical panel discussions on various cancers and trends.

The conference will feature two films. The first, produced by the Navajo nation and entitled, "A Gift of the Navajo," features interviews with Navajo Medicine Men, the Native American Church and community members. Another film entitled," A Lion in the House", produced for PBS for release in 2005, follows five children through their cancer treatment process at Cincinnati Children's Hospital. Exhibit booths are available to health programs to share information on services available.

For information call Jeannette Dalrymple at (602)239-3814 or go online to register and view conference details at  www.westernccop.com/conference.asp

Prevention Programs in Indian Country Target Diabetes

FORT DEFIANCE -- The number of Indians with diabetes has more than doubled over the past decade to more than 107,000 cases, statistics show. On the Navajo reservation in parts of Arizona, more than 18 percent of residents have diabetes - an increase of almost a third in the last five years.

"While diabetes is a nationwide epidemic that affects anybody at any age, we know minorities face a disproportionate burden. For American Indians, we have the highest burden," said Dr. Kelly Moore, a clinical consultant with the Indian Health Services' National Diabetes Program. Since the disease was first recognized as a growing problem among Indians in the 1970s. The focus has since been on treating the disease and its complications, but with the number of cases growing, the focus is now prevention.

"The disease as we know it really has no cure right now, so it has to be lifestyle changes," said Marie T. Allen, director of the Navajo Nation Special Diabetes Project.

The project — one of 300 programs across Indian Country that receive special federal funding for prevention efforts - is teaching Navajos about diabetes and how to avoid it. Navajo health officials are putting out native language radio ads about healthy foods, posting billboards promoting exercise and sponsoring annual conferences. The IHS is also working with health care providers to teach tribal members about healthier lifestyles through tradition and Western-style medicine. The prevention programs don't provide quick fixes, but Allen said they are an important step in changing attitudes and restoring healthy traditions.

"We're in this valley and we want to work on it and come out of it and make a change so that we're eating healthier and we have healthier communities," she said. "That's our whole goal and we can't do it alone."

New Study Links Sexual Trauma and Risky Behavior

NEW YORK -- Physical and sexual abuse appears common among urban Native American women, and the problem may be contributing to their risk of HIV infection, according to a new study.

The study, co-authored by Dr. Karina Walters of the University of Washington in Seattle, found that more than half of 155 Native American women living in the New York City area said they had been physically or sexually abused while fifty-eight percent reported having engaged in risky sexual activity. Women with a history of abuse tended to be more likely to have engaged in risky sexual behavior, the study said.

"Sexual victimization has been found to be associated with sexual risk behaviors among women in general," Walters said.

The rate of past abuse the researchers found -- 52 percent -- is in line with what would be expected in a "population under siege," Walters said. National data show that Native Americans are the victims of violent crime at a rate 2.5 times the national average, and studies have found high rates of violence against women and sexual abuse of girls. It's possible, Walters suggests, that sexually victimized women may have turned to drugs to cope with the trauma, and this in turn led to their sexual risk-taking.

Although the survey -- of Indian women living in one urban area -- cannot give an accurate prevalence figure for HIV, Walters finds that the rate is consistent with estimates from the Indian Health Service, which puts the prevalence of HIV among Native Americans at from 1 to 3 percent. Still, more research is needed, she said.

"Generally, American Indians are ignored or left out of the national conversation with respect to HIV risk, and, hopefully, these data will spark national interest in Native women and communities, and highlight how this disease knows no boundaries," Walters said. The findings are reported in the March issue of the journal, AIDS & Behavior.

Indian Health Organizations Team Up On Tobacco

The Association of American Indian Physicians and the Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board have teamed up to help American Indian and Alaska Native communities to address the culturally competent use of tobacco. The two organizations began a contractual arrangement in April of 2005 that will run through September.

The joint effort is intended to identify culturally competent tobacco prevention materials and information and disseminate them in Indian and Alaska communities. AAIP will distribute tobacco prevention materials to 75 percent of its members and sponsor a speaker at its next annual meeting who will discuss tobacco prevention in adolescent populations.

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