(a) The Rural Health Division of the department shall cause to be undertaken a three-year study for the purpose of establishing more valid statistics regarding American Indian death rates, including rates for the 10 leading causes of death for American Indians within the 37 designated rural Indian counties as follows: Humboldt, Shasta, Siskiyou, Modoc, Del Norte, Mendocino, Lake, Sonoma, Glenn, Butte, Colusa, Plumas, Yuba, Yolo, Tehama, Sutter, El Dorado, Nevada, Placer, Sierra, Tulare, Tuolumne, Amador, Mariposa, Calaveras, Fresno, Kings, Madera, Mono, Inyo, Riverside, San Bernardino, Imperial, Lassen, Santa Barbara, Trinity, and San Diego.
(b) This study shall enlist the fullest possible participation of the Indian community and specifically the Indian clinics currently providing health care services to rural Indians of the state. This project shall be administered in a manner that allows for input from, and consultation with, concerned tribes and tribal organizations and American Indian-controlled health care corporations.
(c) This study shall identify methods to improve the quality of official state data on Indian mortality and carry out activities to achieve that goal, including the provision of training and the development of educational materials for morticians and coroners operating within the state.
(Added by Stats. 1995, Ch. 415, Sec. 4. Effective January 1, 1996.)