“Diversity is the one true thing we all have in common. Celebrate it every day.”
— Author unknown
The essence of diversity is brilliantly reflected across the Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) community. Its rich tapestry of history comes from nearly 50 countries and many more ethnic groups, each with distinct cultures, traditions and histories and over one hundred languages and dialects. This diversity brings a complex set of social and economic challenges that impact health outcomes for this vibrant and rapidly growing U.S. population, but we have made progress over the past few decades in addressing the myriad of health needs across this community.
Thirty years ago, the landmark Report of the Secretary’s Task Force on Black and Minority Health (Heckler Report) marked the first time the U.S. government conducted a comprehensive study of the health status of minorities and elevated minority health onto a national stage. It also set our nation on a new course to learn more about the importance of data, which was published in aggregated form in the report and therefore limited the ability to document the diversity of minority populations such as AANHPIs. With the release of the Heckler Report, we learned the importance of collecting granular race and ethnicity data for the purposes of identifying health disparities and developing interventions.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has long recognized the importance of specific data for racial and ethnic groups. The passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010 with a section on Understanding Health Disparities: Data Collection and Analysis further underscores the importance of detailed, uniform data collection to address health disparities. As a result, HHS established data collection standards for race, ethnicity, sex, primary language and disability status to be implemented in all HHS-administered population surveys. The HHS data standards include seven Asian race categories, distinguish Native Hawaiian from Pacific Islander and specifically add two Pacific Islander race categories – Guamanian or Chamorro and Samoan.
These changes are especially important because AANHPIs are among the fastest growing racial and ethnic groups and are expected to grow to 41 million by 2050. This demographic shift underscores the compelling need to work toward closing the gap on health disparities among this population. Because of the Affordable Care Act, we have an unprecedented opportunity to help connect millions of AANHPIs to quality, affordable health care and preventive services.
Advancing health equity for the AANHPI community is at the core of our work at OMH. Through initiatives such as the National Standards for Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services in Health and Health Care, the Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander National Health Interview Survey and the OMH Resource Center’s Pacific Project which provides capacity building services in the Pacific jurisdictions, we are committed to this goal.
During Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month and throughout the year, OMH joins with our partners to forge greater pathways to achieving improved health and well-being of the AANHPI community and to recognize the community’s dynamic contributions to this nation that we call home.
J. Nadine Gracia, MD, MSCE, is the Former Deputy Assistant Secretary for Minority Health and the Director of the Office of Minority Health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).