Advertisement
AJPH
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

AJPH First Look, published online ahead of print Jan 15, 2009
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Data Supplement
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
AJPH.2008.146522v1
99/4/607    most recent
Right arrow Submit a response
Right arrow purchase articles
Right arrow View Shopping Cart
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Right arrow Get other permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Bryan, R. T.
Right arrow Articles by Stier, D. D.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Bryan, R. T.
Right arrow Articles by Stier, D. D.
Related Collections
Right arrow Community Health
Right arrow Health Law
Right arrow Native Americans
April 2009, Vol 99, No. 4 | American Journal of Public Health 607-614
© 2009 American Public Health Association
DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2008.146522

HEALTH POLICY AND ETHICS

Public Health Legal Preparedness in Indian Country

Ralph T. Bryan, MD, Rebecca McLaughlin Schaefer, JD, MPH, Lemyra DeBruyn, PhD and Daniel D. Stier, JD

Ralph T. Bryan and Lemyra DeBruyn are with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Albuquerque, NM. At the time of the study, Rebecca McLaughlin Schaefer was an intern at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta. Daniel D. Stier is with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA.

Correspondence: Reprint requests should be sent to Ralph T. Bryan, DEDP/IHS, 5300 Homestead Rd NE, Albuquerque, NM 87110 (e-mail: rrb2{at}cdc.gov).

American Indian/Alaska Native tribal governments are sovereign entities with inherent authority to create laws and enact health regulations. Laws are an essential tool for ensuring effective public health responses to emerging threats.

To analyze how tribal laws support public health practice in tribal communities, we reviewed tribal legal documentation available through online databases and talked with subject-matter experts in tribal public health law. Of the 70 tribal codes we found, 14 (20%) had no clearly identifiable public health provisions. The public health–related statutes within the remaining codes were rarely well integrated or comprehensive.

Our findings provide an evidence base to help tribal leaders strengthen public health legal foundations in tribal communities.






HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Copyright © 2009 by the American Public Health Association