There are many ethnic subgroups within Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities. Each has a unique culture and history. Ethnic specific data is critical to monitoring disparities in health status and access to health care for Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders.

Health Challenges in Small Communities

For racial and ethnic groups with a relatively small number of members, such as Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders, and American Indians/Alaskan Natives, there is often inadequate data to identify important health issues and appropriate interventions and solutions to those issues. Such data is often not collected, collected but not analyzed, or not reported due to inadequate sampling.

APIAHF works to increase data and research on Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities by supporting:

1. Standardized collection of data on race, ethnicity, and primary language.
2. Efforts to collect data in health surveys, hospitals and health care organizations.
3. Increased data collection and reporting by federal agencies.
4. Adequate resources to support efforts to collect Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander health data.