Wrapping Up ‘Wrap It Up AK'
Wrap It Up AK was developed in response to health disparity in Alaska. Each year for a decade preceding the creation of the campaign, Alaska had either the highest or second-highest rates of chlamydia in the nation, and the rates of gonorrhea and syphilis had nearly doubled (CDC). STDs had a particularly significant impact on minority groups, rural communities, and young Alaskans (aged 20-34). ‘Wrap It Up AK’ is one of the first times the state has acknowledged the vulnerability of a specific, high-risk group and provided targeted funding to help prevent further spread (Susan Jones qtd. O’Malley). In developing the ‘Wrap It Up AK’ campaign, the DHSS and ANTHC referred to existing studies on health promotion and discourses on sexual health in rural Alaskan communities. They tailored the language of Wrap It Up AK to be culturally relevant, to use the vernacular of their targeted demographic, and to use euphemism to ‘break the ice’ in conversations about culturally taboo topics.
Alaska has always faced challenges in dealing with major health issues. The diversity of its population, massive geographic landscape, and disparate access to technologies and information make it difficult to develop and design health education information that adequately accommodates the unique needs of its cultural communities. When Europeans first came to Alaska and introduced STDs (mainly syphilis and gonorrhea) to the native people groups, Native Alaskans did not have the knowledge, resources, or even the language to discuss the new diseases. According to Richard Fortuine, by the 1830s, syphilis prevailed amongst indigenous communities, causing infertility and death. The original attempts of the American government to cope with these health issues involved the forceful removal of infected people from their communities to isolated medical facilities, where they were confined and treated with mercury treatments. In 1859, there was a major syphilis outbreak in Sitka and Chief Manager Furuhjelm ordered the destruction of all the huts and forts being used for sexual activities, then ‘rounded up’ the infected women and forcefully interned them in a building guarded by a sentry where they were forced to undergo treatment. If a woman tried to escape, he would order half her hair shaved a particularly embarrassing punishment in the Tlingit culture (Fortuine 246).
The cultural and language divide between American officials and Alaska’s indigenous population has resulted in some poor public health policies, to say the least. In light of these events, Wrap It Up AK becomes more than just an unconventional approach to public health - it’s an impressive effort on the part of the state to provide culturally-competent, community-based health care intervention.
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Charlee Laurie is a senior pursuing a Baccalaureate in English.
