South Dakota’s population is, in many ways, a microcosm of the broader health inequities experienced by Native Americans across the nation. In a notable report recently published by the South Dakota Department of Health, startling data underscores the breadth and depth of the heath disparities that exist among the state’s populations.
Analyzing nearly ten years of comprehensive data, the report cites pregnancy-related mortality rates for Native Americans as materially higher than such deaths among South Dakota’s Caucasian population. Similarly, infant mortality rates are notable higher over the years for Native Americans, including at an increasing rate in the more recent time periods.
Not surprisingly, the data also provides a better understanding of which South Dakota counties possess greater social vulnerabilities, defined as those counties that represent lower levels of resilience in emergencies due to many factors in areas such as poor conditions in housing, transportation access, and poverty, each of which is experienced by Native Americans to a greater degree than their Caucasian counterparts.
In testimony last month to the South Dakota state legislature, secretary of health Melissa Magstadt highlighted some of the starker gaps in health equity. One example is data showing the massive difference in the median ages of death among the state’s Native Americans and Caucasians; namely, a split that is over 20 years wide (58 years old for Native Americans and 80 years old for Caucasians).
Health equity advocates increasingly have been focused the Native American population in an effort to help narrow health disparity gaps suffered by Native Americans versus other populations that have experienced better access to health and enhanced outcomes from health care. This will continue to be a focus area in the months and years ahead across the U.S. health equity landscape.
The full report can be found here.