Report: Federal Health Cuts Threaten Native Americans' Wellbeing
(MENAFN) Tribal leaders nationwide are sounding the alarm over drastic federal cuts to health programs that threaten Native American communities' wellbeing, local media revealed Tuesday.
The Navajo Nation, home to 400,000 enrolled members and the largest Native American reservation spanning Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah, faces severe impacts from slashed funding and staff reductions, tribal president Buu Nygren told a news outlet.
According to official announcements from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the agency plans to eliminate 20,000 positions, shrinking its workforce from 82,000 to 62,000 employees. Compounding the issue, the Trump administration previously ordered a 35% cut in contract spending across all HHS divisions, the report added.
These extensive cutbacks have disproportionately affected funding streams vital to Native American health services, with Navajo council delegate Cherilyn Yazzie warning that the reductions are "disrupting real lives."
Health officials within tribal communities report that reduced federal staff levels have severely limited access to technical assistance and crucial funding for federally supported health projects, the report noted.
The National Indian Health Board highlighted the financial toll in a recent letter to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., stating that tribal programs have lost over $6 million in grants from various HHS agencies.
Janet Alkire, chairperson of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe along the South Dakota-North Dakota border, emphasized that these cuts jeopardize key initiatives including community health workers, vaccination campaigns, and efforts to modernize health data.
"We have not been consulted with meaningfully on any of these actions," said Liz Malerba of the United South and Eastern Tribes Sovereignty Protection Fund, as tribal leaders condemned the reductions for violating federal treaty obligations.
Native American populations continue to endure significantly higher rates of chronic diseases and face lower life expectancies compared to the broader U.S. population, the report underlined.
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