FEDERAL AGENCY CREATES TRANS-AGENCY WORKGROUP TO IMPROVE ASIAN AMERICAN, NATIVE HAWAIIAN AND PACIFIC ISLANDER HEALTH
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contacts:
Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum
| Phone: (415) 568-3328
December 19, 2006
Washington, DC---At a meeting with thirteen national Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander health and community organization representatives, Secretary Michael Leavitt of the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) announced he would create a trans-agency workgroup to coordinate his department's various services and programs to effectively increase the visibility of, and health access for, the AAPI communities.
"We are encouraged with the Secretary's responsiveness and commitment to work with the AAPI communities. During the meeting we stressed to the Secretary and his senior agency representatives the myriad health challenges our community members face. The general lack of affordable health care, coupled with limited culturally competent and linguistically appropriate services have negatively impacted the community members' access to general medical and specifically mental health services. Combined with the lack of aggregated and ethnic-focused data collection from the federal government have rendered our communities invisible to health care providers and policy makers." Commented Dr. Ho L. Tran, CEO of the Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum w ho led the community delegation.
"Community-based health centers have proven to be highly effective and are often the sole source of preventive and primary health care to the most vulnerable members of our communities. We reminded the Secretary of the urgent need for more community health centers as the AAPI population has expanded beyond the traditional AAPI neighborhoods where community health centers are currently placed" added
The Secretary-endorsed trans-agency workgroup will be coordinated by the Office of Minority Health with participating agencies from the Center for Disease Control (CDC), National Institute of Health, White House Initiative on AAPI, Administration on Aging, Administration of Family and Children, Office of Public Health and Science, Office of Public Health Emergency Preparedness, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Office of Civil Rights , Office of Refugee and Resettlement and others. It will meet with the AAPI community twice each year to evaluate progress and other on-going concerns. In response to the AAPI attendees' recommendations, it intends to hold a townhall gathering of Nat ive Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders to examine government and community initiatives on critical issues facing Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders. As the workgroup is designed to work collectively on AAPI health initiatives, its first collaboration will be on the Hepatitis B initiative. The National Institute of Health and Center for Disease Control will lead federal efforts with AAPI health leaders to develop a comprehensive Hepatitis B awareness program that includes screening, immunization, treatment and research. AAPIs have the highest rate of Hepatitis B infection, which can lead to liver cancer.
"The trans-agency work group poses opportunities to strengthen linkages between the federal health authorities and the AAPI communities. We look forward to the continued leadership from Secretary Leavitt toward our shared commitment of raising the visibility, thus access to health care, of all AAPIs" concluded Dr. Tran.
Representatives from these national organizations also participated in the meeting: National Asian Pacific American Council on Aging, Japanese American Citizens League; National Council of Asian Pacific American Physicians; National Asian American & Pacific Islander Mental Health Association; Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Alliance, Southeast Asian Resource Action Center, South Asian Public Health Association, and the South Asian Health Project.