VOICES from the Community 2004: Taking Action on Health & Wealth Disparities
More than 225 people attended the 2004 Voices from the Community conference, representing 20 states and Palau. People came from as far away as Alaska, Hawaii and Palau. Roughly half were from California, but many came from states with much smaller AAPI populations: Ohio, Colorado, Arizona.
Opening Plenary: Taking Action on Health & Wealth Disparities
The conference began with a plenary focused on the conference theme. Since the Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum's last national conference in April 2001, our ability to address health disparities and other vital concerns has been overshadowed by policies that shift the national priority to war, erode civil liberties, shrink the social safety net, and widen wealth disparities. APIAHF board chair Art Chen, and President and CEO Ho Tran, dealt directly with these concerns in his presentation, calling attention to our point of view, and inviting participants to act toward changing the nation’s priorities.
John Lumpkin presented his point of view on the state of affairs as a foundation official. Nate Stinson whose agency was the major sponsor of the conference congratulated our ability and reason for organizing the event. Finally, Geeta Rao Gupta allowed participants to see the issue of disparities and social injustice from an international point of view.
Plenary: Giving Voice to Unspoken Issues
The HF has a legacy of breaking the silence on health issues that carry a lot of stigma in the AAPI community, evidenced today with our work in HIV/AIDS, domestic violence, smoking, and cancer. Yet there are many more health issues to be covered. This year, we decided to give voice to the issues of disability and mental health in the AAPI community.
EEOC attorney and APIAHF board member Bill Tamayo, laid out the issues and introduced the keynote speakers Jean Lin and Stuart Ishimaru. Jean Lin is an advocate for people living with disabilities and does so out of her own experience. She delivered a powerful story--a story that has not been told to such a wide audience of AAPI health advocates. Stuart Ishimaru, the only Asian on the 5-member EEOC, contratulated the Forum and Jean for their work.
APIAHF board member, Reiko Homma True, introduced the issue of mental health. DJ Ida, Executive Director of the National Asian American and Pacific Islander Mental Health Association (NAAPIMHA) and Teddy Chen, M.D., Medical Director, Alameda Alliance for Health and Board Chair, APIAHF.
Contributed scientific and practitioner points of view on the issue of mental health in AAPI communities. Through DJ, the personal story of one of her board members, was shared, highlighting not only the reality of the disease, but also how highly productive we can be despite our disease.
For more information, contact the APIAHF Policy Division staff:
Gem Daus, Legislative and Government Affairs Coordinator, GDaus@apiahf.org
Dr. Alice Chen, Sorros Fellow
