Smoking Cessation Efforts for American Indians in Washington

By Coral Sisk, WHF Associate

More than 160,000 people in Washington State identify themselves as American Indian or Alaska Native. While some are members of the 29 federally-recognized tribes and live on reservations across Washington, approximately two-thirds live in or near cities such as Seattle, Tacoma, and Spokane. In Washington roughly one third of American Indians smoke commercial tobacco [1]. They also suffer from chronic diseases, such as cancer, diabetes and heart disease, at a much higher rate than the general population [2].

Tobacco cessation and prevention programs are effective and important ways to reduce the rates of chronic disease. Currently, American Indian communities across Washington are receiving funds from various sources to help them develop effective and sustainable tobacco prevention programs. These include:

• The Washington State Tobacco Prevention and Control Program, administered by the Department of Health, is currently providing $635,000 to 19 tribes, the Seattle Indian Health Board, and the American Indian Health Commission to reduce commercial tobacco in American Indian communities.
• Tribes operating gaming casinos in Washington State are required by gaming compacts to provide a percentage of their revenues on smoking cessation and prevention. For 2009 and 2010 combined, tribal casinos used over $3 million to groups around the state to discourage tobacco use. Approximately 70 percent of these funds were distributed to support Tribal smoking cessation and prevention efforts [5].
• The state Department of Health received federal stimulus funds to help addictions and mental health treatment centers to integrate tobacco cessation into their treatment plans and create tobacco free facilities. Many of the treatment centers receiving this training and technical assistance serve tribal and urban Indians [4].

The Healthiest State Campaign with help from the Washington State Department of Health is reaching out to American Indian and other communities across the state to build a broad-based public/private partnership to prevent chronic diseases. It is all about exploring together the best ways to make healthy choices about diet, exercise and tobacco the easy choices.

To learn more about the Healthiest Communities Partnership, click here.

Sources:

1. Washington State Department of Health Tobacco Use Statistics: http://www.doh.wa.gov/tobacco

2. Northwest Area Indian Health Board Statistics: http://www.npaihb.org/programs/project/nttpn_data_statistics/

3. Indian Country Today News: http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/living/health/80266097.html

4. U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services: http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2010pres/02/20100205a.html

5. Washington State Gambling Commission: http://www.wsgc.wa.gov/agendas/archives/2010/jul_tribal_contributions_presentation.pdf