Winnebago Chairwoman Discusses COVID-19 at White House Tribal Summit

Winnebago Tribal Chairwoman Victoria Kitcheyan led a panel discussion with Dr. Anthony Facui and Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra at the 2021 White House Tribal Nations Summit on Monday.

This summit creates an opportunity for the president and senior leaders from his administration to meet with tribal leaders and engage in nation-to-nation dialogue on critical issues in Indian Country. This is the first time the summit has been held since 2016.

This particular panel focused on combating COVID-19 in Indian Country, which has higher rates of the virus and hospitalizations compared to other demographics. They also discussed how the federal government will continue to increase health policies in Indian Country including additional federal funding and awareness.

Another point of discussion centered around increasing efforts to include members of tribal nations in clinical trials as well as in medical research settings. A question was raised regarding efforts of the National Institute of Health to ensure Indian Country receives the benefits of the breaking science and future medical needs.

"We are going to emphasize on the tribes themselves both conceiving and conducting the research themselves with in increase emphasis on capacity building," Facui said.

Fauci also made note of increasing the numbers of regional training hubs that provide high school students the opportunity to get started on a scientific career. These hubs already exist in the states of Washington, Arizona and Nebraska.

The panel also focused on pushing vaccines in Native American communities and decreasing the health disparities in those communities that have become more noticeable since the start of the pandemic. As a part of legislation passed by the Biden Administration, more funding is going to tribal health systems to combat COVID-19 , as well as supporting overall heath care services in Indian Country.