Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 31, Number 1, 1 January 2014 — Health survey to focus on Hawaiians, Pacific Islanders [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Health survey to focus on Hawaiians, Pacific Islanders

An "unprecedented" project aimed at collecting heahh data on Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander populations is expected to begin in Lebruary. Officials from the U.S. Department of Heahh and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say the data would help their agencies craft reports on a wide range of heahh indicators for those populations. The Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander National Heahh Interview Survey aims to include a sample of approximately 4,000 households. Data collection is scheduled to begin in Lebruary with findings expected in the summer of 2015. "This unprecedented survey ... will shed important light on the heahh status of the Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander population," Dr. J. Nadine Gracia, HHS deputy

assistant secretary for minority heahh, said in a news release. Although Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders comprise just 0.4 percent of the total U.S. population, according to 2010 Census figures, available data indicate they experienee significant heahh disparities compared to other groups. Officials say the laek of reliable heahh information makes it difficult to assess their heahh status and needs. Dr. Jerris Hedges, dean of the University of Hawai'i John A. Burns School of Medicine, described the project as a "huge step forward." "In the past, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders were lumped into the same statistical category with other Asian groups, when we know that in fact Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders have unique heahh disparities that need to be addressed," Hedges said in a news release. ■

Courtesy photo: James Gathany, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention