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Amelia Schafer
ICT + Rapid City Journal
As syphilis cases continue to rise across the Great Plains Region, the Great Plains Tribal Leaders Health Board has urged U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Bacerra to declare a public health emergency.
South Dakota currently has the highest rate of syphilis in the nation, with 84.3 per 100,000 people infected, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The rate of syphilis in South Dakota is two times higher than in New Mexico, the state with the second-highest infection rate.
The Health Board stated that section 319 of the Public Health Service Act allows the Secretary of Health and Human Services to implement measures for preventing the introduction, transmission or spread of infectious diseases. The Health Board serves as the representative body for 17 tribal nations and one service unit across South Dakota, Nebraska, North Dakota and Iowa.
“The elected leaders from each of the Great Plains Area tribal nations implore you to issue a Public Health Emergency Declaration under Section 319 of the Public Health Service Act, acknowledging the significant outbreak of syphilis and congenital syphilis affecting American Indian and Alaska Native communities in our region,” said Jerilyn Church, CEO of the health board in a press release.
The syphilis rate among Indigenous people in the Great Plains surpasses any previously recorded rate in the United States since 1941, Church said. Post-pandemic, syphilis rates among Indigenous people in the Great Plains skyrocketed by 1,865 percent outpacing the 154 percent national increase, according to data from the Great Plains Tribal Epidemiology Center.
Additionally, one in every 40 Indigenous babies born in 2022 were diagnosed with syphilis.
“Many of these hundreds of children will face significant long-term health challenges. It is imperative to commence planning for their care now to ensure they are not left behind,” Church said.
The press release added that the available resources do not meet what’s needed. As tribal health centers are public health agencies, access to data and resources from HHS can aid in effective responses, the Health Board said it is not receiving this data from HHS.
The Health Board is requesting immediate action from HHS, including data access from Indian Health Services, additional emergency funding, emergency resource planning, additional credentialed staff from tribal public health agencies and an additional 50 personnel from the Public Health Service to aid in diagnosis and treatment efforts.
The Health Board has been sponsoring several sexually transmitted infection testing pop-up clinics around the Black Hills area. The next pop-up clinic will be on Saturday, March 2 at Oglala Lakota College in Rapid City.
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