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ASIAN/PACIFIC ISLANDERS AND HIV
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To
order free copies of the 2008 Ryan White
Grantee folder and fact sheets, call 1.888.ASK.HRSA
or order
online.
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On
this page...
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| SURVEILLANCE |
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In 2006, the estimated AIDS rate among
adult and adolescent A/PIs was just 4.4
cases per 100,000 population.2
However, advocates remain concerned about
the misclassification of data and undercounting
of AIDS cases in the A/PI community. Such
issues, along with small sample size,
may hinder the development of an accurate
understanding of the needs of the A/PI
population.
- During
2006, an estimated 519 new AIDS cases
were reported among A/PIs, an increase
of 15 percent over 2005 and 22 percent
over 2002.3
- At
the end of 2006, an estimated 4,526 A/PIs
were living with AIDS in the United States;
753 were women, 3,752 were men, and 21
were children.4
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- For
A/PI men estimated to be living with AIDS,
male-to-male sexual contact was the HIV
transmission category in an estimated
72 percent of cases, compared with an
estimated 75 percent of cases among Whites.4
- In
2006, high-risk heterosexual contact was
the transmission category for 12
percent of A/PI men estimated to be living
with AIDS, compared to just 5 percent
of White men.4
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| WOMEN |
- Among
A/PI women estimated to be living with
AIDS, high-risk heterosexual contact (an
estimated 78 percent of cases) was more
likely to have been the HIV transmission
category than for women of any other race
in 2006.4
- In
2006, injection drug use was the transmission
category in 15 percent of estimated AIDS
cases among A/PI women.4
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| CRITICAL
ISSUES |
| Approximately
two-thirds of A/PIs living in the United States
are foreign-born.1 In 2004, 70 percent of
A/PIs were first-generation immigrants or
refugees, and 42 percent lived in households
where English was not the primary language.5
Many
of these U.S. residents are unfamiliar with
the American health system and have difficulty
obtaining services. The lack of trained
bilingual health care providers and translation
and interpretation services can cause many
A/PIs to postpone medical treatment.
Lack
of health insurance can also impede access
to health services. Between 2004 and 2006,
21.7 percent of Native Hawaiian and other
Pacific Islanders were uninsured, compared
with 10.7 percent of non-Hispanic Whites.6
For those with medical insurance, coverage
does not always extend to mental health
care.5
Although
rates of many diseases, including HIV/AIDS,
are lower among A/PIs than among other racial
and ethnic groups, A/PIs are more likely
to suffer from tuberculosis, hepatitis B,
and stomach and liver cancers than Whites.7
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| HRSA'S
RESPONSE |
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As
part of an ongoing effort to seek the input
of diverse communities, the HIV/AIDS
Bureau (HAB) convened a series of four 1-day
meetings with representatives of several
racial and ethnic minority groups. The meetings
included discussions on increasing access
to care among the A/PI population. (To read
the report, visit www.careacttarget.org/library/AsianPacificIslanderReport.pdf.)
To
increase access to quality care for minorities
and respond to the need for additional minority
providers of state-of-the-art care in underserved
communities, the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program
funds the National Minority AIDS Education
and Training Center to expand clinical expertise
in minority communities. See www.nmaetc.org
for
more information. The National Minority
AIDS Initiative has been codified into law
and is now Part F of the Ryan White HIV/AIDS
Program. To learn more, go to www.hab.hrsa.gov/treatmentmodernization/minority.htm.
The
Health Resources and Services Administration
(HRSA) supports a range of other activities
that address the epidemic among A/PI. Highlights
include the Special Projects of National
Significance (SPNS) program on Outreach,
Care, and Prevention to Engage HIV Seropositive
Young MSM of Color; community consultations
and collaborations with community organizations
such as the National Minority AIDS Council
(NMAC); and publication of studies and findings
on the search for increasingly effective
means for reaching underserved populations.
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| END
NOTES: |
| 1 |
President’s
Advisory Commission on Asian Americans
and Pacific Islanders. Enhancing
the economic potential of Asian and
Pacific Islanders (AAPI). Washington,
DC: Author; 2007. |
| 2 |
Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
HIV/AIDS Surveillance Report.
2006;18:15. Table 5a. |
| 3 |
CDC.
HIV/AIDS Surveillance Report.
2006;18:13. Table 3. |
| 4 |
CDC.
HIV/AIDS Surveillance Report.
2006;18:23. Table 11. |
| 5 |
National
Council of Asian Pacific Americans.
Call to action: Platform for Asian American
and Pacific Islander national policy
priorities, 2008. April 2008. Available
at: www.apiahf.org/downloads/NCAPA2008Platform.pdf
(PDF – 397KB). Accessed June
16, 2008. |
| 6 |
U.S.
Census Bureau. Income, Poverty,
and Health Insurance in the United States:
2006. Washington, DC: U.S.
Government Printing Office; 2007:22.
Available at: www.census.gov/prod/2007pubs/p60-233.pdf
(PDF – 3108KB). Accessed June
10, 2008. |
| 7 |
U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services.
Office of Minority Health. Asian American/Pacific
Islander profile. Available at: www.omhrc.gov/templates/browse.aspx?lvl=2&lvlID=53.
Accessed June 11, 2008. |
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