WASHINGTON – Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., recently announced that the Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe and the Rapid City Indian Health Service will receive funding to combat diabetes. The $945,976 in total funding is part of the Special Diabetes Program for Indians, which seeks to support diabetes treatment and prevention activities for Native American communities.

“Diabetes continues to affect a disproportionate amount of Native Americans,” Johnson said. “This funding is an invaluable contribution to the struggle against diabetes and I am pleased that these organizations will receive assistance in fighting the epidemic.”

The Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe will receive a grant of $279,583, and the Rapid City Indian Health Service will receive a grant of $666,393.

The diabetes epidemic among Native Americans and Alaska Natives prompted Congress to create the SDPI in 1997. The program, administered by the Indian Health Service Division of Diabetes with assistance from the Tribal Leaders Diabetes Committee, allocates funding annually to treat and prevent diabetes while addressing each stage of the disease.