CDC Celebrates Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage

May is Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month!

In 1978, a joint congressional resolution established Asian/Pacific American Heritage Week. The first 10 days of May were chosen to coincide with two important milestones in Asian/Pacific American history: the arrival in the United States of the first Japanese immigrants (May 7, 1843) and contributions of Chinese workers to the building of the transcontinental railroad, completed May 10, 1869. In 1992, Congress expanded the observance to a month long celebration.
During the observance of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month, we celebrate the cultural traditions, ancestry, native languages and unique experiences represented among more than 47 ethnic groups from Asia and the Pacific Islands (speaking more than 100 languages) who live in the United States. We also recognize millions of AAPIs whose love of family, hard work and community has helped unite us as a people and sustain us as a Nation.
AAPIs represent one of the fastest-growing and most diverse populations in the United States. According to the 2003 President's Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, Report to the President and the Nation, AAPIs comprise many populations that make critically important contributions to American life. Their communities often are described as a "model minority" that generally enjoys superior health status. In reality, however, the AAPI population experiences genuine health disparities in cancer screening, diabetes and infectious diseases, among others.

Asian Americans

Asian Americans represent the extremes of both socioeconomic and health indices:

Asian American women experience the greatest life expectancy (85.8 years) of any other ethnic group in the U.S.
Asian Americans have the highest proportion of college graduates of any racial or ethnic group (50.2% of Asian Americans have a bachelor's degree, compared with 28% of the total population).
Asian Americans contend with numerous factors which may threaten their health, including infrequent medical visits due to the fear of deportation, language/cultural barriers, and the lack of health insurance.
Asian Americans are at a greater risk for: cancer, heart disease, stroke, unintentional injuries (accidents), and diabetes.
Asian Americans also have a high prevalence and risk factors for: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, hepatitis B, HIV/AIDS, smoking, tuberculosis, and liver disease.
In 2008, Asian American women (ages 18+) were least likely to have had a Pap test (65.1%) compared with other racial/ethnic women (non-Hispanic white: 74.9%, non-Hispanic black: 80.0%, Hispanic/Latino: 75.4%, American Indian/Alaska Native: 69.4%).
In 2005, AAPIs aged 40 years and older were 1.2 times more likely to have Hepatitis B (3.5 per 100,000) than non-Hispanic whites (2.9).

Native Hawaiian & Other Pacific Islanders

The U.S.-associated Pacific Island Jurisdictions comprises three Flag Territories:

American Samoa
the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI)
Guam

and three Freely Associated States:

The Federated States of Micronesia (FSM)
The Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI)
The Republic of Palau

They are U.S. territories made up of hundreds of small islands and atolls spread across about 5 million square miles of ocean—nearly half the size of the United States—with a total population of 469,356 (1999 and 2000 estimates).
It is significant to note that in comparison to other ethnic groups, Native Hawaiians/Pacific Islanders have higher rates of smoking, alcohol consumption, and obesity. Major causes of premature death among Native Hawaiians/Pacific Islanders are obesity, cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and diabetes.
Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders experience important health disparities, here are a few examples:

The 5-year relative survival rate for all cancers for Native Hawaiians is 47%, compared with 57% for whites and 55% for all races.
In 2002, the infant mortality rate for Native Hawaiians was 9.6 per 1,000 live births, higher than the rate for all AAPIs combined (4.8), and for all populations (7.0).