VIEWPOINT: Indian country looks to Daschle for help - Grand Forks Herald
Tim Giago (Nanwica Kciji)RAPID CITY, S.D. — Former Sen. Tom Daschle soon will be seated as the head of the Department of Health and Human Services. As a man who grew up in South Dakota and served as its representative and senator for many years, he, probably above all others, is highly qualified to know and understand the health problems prevalent among the Native people of his state.
Within the HHS is the Indian Health Service, an agency that serves the needs of the 1.8 million members of the 560 federally recognized tribes. The Indian Health Service has 15,102 employees and in 2008 operated under a budget of $4.3 billion. IHS oversees 46 hospitals, 324 health centers, 309 health stations and 34 urban Indian health programs.
Established in 1921 within the U.S. Department of the Interior, the Indian Health Service was transferred to HHS in 1955.
Now, all of the above statistics makes the Indian Health Service sound pretty impressive and for lack of a better term, it is doing pretty well under difficult circumstances. And yet, the average age of Native Americans is 25 percent less than that of the white population. The twin epidemic of diabetes and infant mortality is much, much higher than that of the average American.
Los Angeles TimesVIEWPOINT: Indian country looks to Daschle for help As a man who grew up in South Dakota and served as its representative and senator for many years, he, probably above all others, is highly qualified to know Video: Ted Kennedy Speaks To CBS News Sen. Ted Kennedy, back after cancer battle, presides over hearing Reform will be bipartisan effort, Daschle says -
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