Digital Scholarship and Initiatives

North Carolina's Department of Health and Human Services reported that, for the past three years, the Lumbee Indian community has had the highest syphilis rate of the state's Indian populations. American Indians have the state's highest syphilis rate. Cases among the Lumbee are 36.1% of the 131 cases reported in Robeson County. Robeson County's syphilis rate of 50.2 cases per 100,000 people is the 17th highest in the United States. Robeson County Health Department's outreach specialist, April Oxendine, is working with religious leaders and Indian organizations to inform Native Americans about the disease and how to prevent it.