OUR POSITION

APIAHF believes that detailed and accurate data collection, analysis, reporting, and dissemination at the federal, state and local levels is essential to having diverse communities be visible and represented.

​

Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders trace their heritage to more than 50 different countries and speak more than 100 different languages. Yet, when diverse communities are considered as one, the resulting data leads to inaccurate policy assumptions and poorly targeted investments that undermine equity for all.

​

APIAHF works to ensure that the distinct social, health, educational and economic di­fferences within Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities are represented in policy, research and advocacy. APIAHF advocates for comprehensive data collection and analysis that is scientifically robust and refined in its results, through strategies that include combining multiple years of data for analyses of smaller populations, proper sampling methodologies including oversampling, and ensuring that surveys are administered in a culturally and linguistically appropriate manner.

​

30 YEARS ADVANCING DATA EQUITY

Since our founding 1986, APIAHF has been a leader in advocating for health data equity, serving as a national convener and working with state and local community-based organizations to advance the issue. This focus, and the major impetus for the creation of APIAHF, originated with the 1985 Report of the Secretary’s Task Force on Black and Minority Health (“Heckler Report”). This foundational report, by then U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Margaret Heckler, was one of the first comprehensive government reviews of minority health disparities, but incorrectly concluded that Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders (AA and NHPI) were healthier than other minorities, despite only analyzing aggregated data. Since then, APIAHF has successfully led advocacy for the collection, analysis, and reporting of AA and NHPI data through successful legislative and administrative strategies, nationally funded partnerships, and as a thought leader on data equity.

​

OUR STRATEGIES

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, primary language and sociodemographic factors.

2. Efforts to collect data in health surveys, hospitals and health care organizations and plans.

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.

5. Partnerships with funders and state and local health advocates to advance data equity at the local level.