IHS announces tribal HIV/STD training kit and guide

To help stop the spread of HIV and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), the Indian Health Service (IHS) supported the development of a Tribal HIV/STD Training Kit and Policy Guide. The training kit gives tribes and tribal organizations information on how to work with tribal council members, school boards, health directors, and other partnering programs on ways to prevent the transmission of HIV and STDs.

The training kit contains facts about sexual health, tools for assessing community readiness to implement a sexual health program, information to guide policy development, case studies of effective models for change, and additional resources to strengthen community sexual health activities and policies.

The kit also provides recommendations to American Indians and Alaska Natives on healthy lifestyle choices. Tribal health advocates can use the kit to guide discussions with tribal leaders and develop ideas for effective disease prevention strategies. The training kit can be downloaded from the IHS website at http://www.ihs.gov/hivaids/.

The training kit is a collaborative effort with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Minority Health Resource Center and the Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board. It is being released in conjunction with the International AIDS Conference being held in Washington, D.C., the week of July 22.

The IHS, an agency in HHS, provides a comprehensive health service delivery system for approximately 2 million American Indians and Alaska Natives who are members of federally recognized tribes.