Male NAI Veterans and Surgery Risk

[sirI, MSN, APRN, NP]

Researchers with the first Navajo woman surgeon published these findings in the June 2005 issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons.

Male Native American veterans are more likely to die within a month of surgery than their white counterparts, according to a study published this month.

But Native veterans and their advocates say Native veterans face special challenges when seeking medical care. They must often travel hundreds of miles just to obtain basic services promised to them for enlisting in the military. They also say conditions on reservations that influence their health are poor.

"My grandfather told me, 'The better we do, the more the government will help,'" Army Sgt. Gerald Dupris, a member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe who saw combat in Iraq, said earlier this year. "But Native Americans have not gotten such help."

Complete article:

http://www.indianz.com/News/2005/008557.asp