Support SAHEP at the Race for the Cure on June 6th in Washington, DC

Please support us and the global movement to end breast cancer forever! Impact your world and your community today - make a donation or join our team.
Up to 75 percent of the money raised by the Susan G. Komen Global Race for the Cure stays in the D.C. area to fund screening, treatment and education programs through the National Capital Area Grant Program. The remaining dollars support the Global Promise Fund, reaching underserved people in areas where breast cancer mortality rates are the highest.

For more information, please visit: http://globalrace.info-komen.org/site/TR/GlobalRaceForTheCure/GlobalRace?pg=team&fr_id=1140&team_id=101421

Public Comment: Vaccine Requirements for Immigrants

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is seeking public comment on a set of proposed criteria to determine which vaccines recommended by the CDC should be mandatory for immigrants seeking admission into the U.S. or seeking to become permanent residents. Under the proposed rule, http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2009/E9-7934.htm, published in the Federal Register on April 8, a vaccine recommended by the CDC will become mandated for immigrants.

Comments can be submitted via e-mail to DGMQpubliccomments@cdc.gov . 

Comments may also be submitted by mail to the following address:

Division of Global Migration and Quarantine, Centers for Disease 
Control and Prevention, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 
Attn: Immigration Vaccination Requirements
1600 Clifton Road, NE., MS E-03
Atlanta, Georgia, 30333

Soliciting Call for Asian & Pacific Islander Health Abstracts for APHA Annual Meeting

The Asian & Pacific Islander (API) Caucus is soliciting abstracts for the American Public Health Association (APHA) Conference that will be held November 7-11, 2009 in Philadelphia, PA.

In most cases, structured abstracts (250 word maximum) are preferred. All research abstracts should be submitted with five sections: background/significance, objective/purpose, methods, results, and discussion/conclusions. Do not include references or citations in the text of the abstract. Do not include brand or trade names in the title and/or text of the abstract; generic names are required for continuing education credit. All abstracts must be submitted with at least two learning objectives in the proper APHA format (i.e., “By the end of the session, the participant will be able to…”). Please check the abstract title and text for spelling and grammatical errors. Do not include your name or contact information in the text portion as this prohibits blind peer review. If you are unable to identify a specific session for your abstract, please submit it under "Other." Failure to adhere to these guidelines may result in your abstract being rejected.

Peer review of abstracts is blinded. Abstracts will be peer-reviewed based on the following criteria: 

• Importance: Importance to API health
• Relevance: Relevance to API Caucus topics 
• Originality: Innovative information/cutting edge/topic not addressed elsewhere 
• Quality: Completeness describing research/project/concept/supporting data of the program/project/intervention/research
• Clarity: Clearly written and conveys essence of program/project/intervention/research
• Annual Meeting Theme: Relevance to public health without borders

Those interested in API health are invited to join the API Caucus. Further details on the API Caucus can be found at http://www.apicaucus.org. For more information about the APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition, please visit http://apha.org/meetings/.

Breast Feeding Benefits the Health of Women

In today's, April 22, 2009, New York Times Health Section, an article is posted on a recent study descibing the benefits of women breast-feeding. According to the study, women who breast feed are at lower risks for high blood pressure, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. Therefore, a lower risk for women in the leading health concerns amongst South Asians.

"The benefits increase with duration of past breast-feeding, the study found. Women who had breast-fed for more than a year in their entire lifetimes were almost 10 percent less likely than those who had never breast-fed to have had a heart attack or a stroke in their postmenopausal years. They were also less likely to have diabetes, hypertension and high cholesterol."

For more information on breast feeding and the benefits on infants, please refer to: http://www.fda.gov/Fdac/features/895_brstfeed.html

To read the entire NYT article, please visit: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/22/health/research/22breast.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

The State of Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Health in California Report

California has the largest and most diverse Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) population in the U.S. In July 2006, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that there are 5.1million AANPIs in California alone, accounting for approximately 14 percent of California's population. It seems that the report focuses more on Chinese, Filipino, Korean and Vietnamese populations in the state, there are a few statistics on South Asians that are included. The report includes information on immigration, citizenship, and status; socioeconomic determinants; healthcare system; behavioral risk factors; health status indicators and Recommendations.

According to the report, the following health statistics were identified for the South Asian population in California:

• 12 percent higher than average of No usual source of care (barriers for this include limited english proficiency, insurance status, citizenship status, etc).
• The proportion of Asian women not meeting cervical cancer screening guidelines is much higher than all other racial/ethnic groups.
• Have higher than average rates (along with Chinese, Vietnamese and NHPIs) in NOT getting mammograms at recommended times.
• South Asians report low rates of unequal treatment in receiving medical care, possiblydue to the relatively high proportion of South Asian medical providers in California,which provides more opportunity for South Asians to seek South Asian providers.
• Higher than average rates of Diabetes.
• South Asian women are least likely to be smokers.
• South Asians have the highest rate of participating in lesiure physical activities.
• South Asian adolescents are more likely to consume less than five servings of fruits and vegetables a day than the state's average for adolescents.
• Cancer, heart disease, and stroke combined account for 62.4% and 60.7% of all deaths among Asian Americans and NHPIs. These rates are higher than those for White, Latino, and Black.
• Diabetes, hypertension, and Alzheimer's disease are leading causes of death that are becoming growing concerns.
• Heart Disease was the leading cause of death amongs Indians in California in 2004.
• Cancer incidence rates were consistently lowest amongst all Asian American groups.
• South Asians are at much higher rate of heart disease when adjusting for age and sex composition of the population.
• South Asian adolescents have higher than average rates for asthma (28%).

To view the entire report, please visit: http://democrats.assembly.ca.gov/members/a49/pdf/AANHPI_report_091.pdf

South Asian Diabetics at Risk for Early Eye Trouble

http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTRE5316NY20090402

2nd Annual Refugee Health Conference

2nd Annual Refugee Health Conference

When: Thursday, April 23, 2009
Time: 8:00am to 3:30pm
Location: The Gathering Place, Clarksville, MD

Event is FREE; Registration is required

This program is directed to the professional staff involved in refugee health screening and resettlement. We strongly encourage representation from all health departments, as both new and established refugee populations are increasingly settling outside the major metropolitan areas of Maryland. Topics include:

• The changing epidemiology of recently arrived refugees in Maryland
• Health requirements for Adjustment of Status
• Overview of overseas outbreaks at refugee camps
• Internationally-acquired parasitic infections: new guidelines for screening and follow-up
• Refugee mental health

Speakers will be from the United States Citizenship and Immigrations Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, and many others. A continental breakfast and lunch will be served. Continuing Education Units (CEUs) will be provided to all attendees through Howard County Community College.

To register, please go to: http://coned.howardcc.edu/business_and_workforce_development/customized_training/registrationform.html. Additional information about the conference, directions, and the agenda can be found at: http://cha.state.md.us/refugee.cfm.

Indian Americans at High Risk for Vitamin D Deficiency

Indian Americans may be at a higher risk for Vitamin D deficiency because of the amount of melanin in their skins, says the author of a new study, published this month in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

According to an article posted in Indiawest.com, the study did not sample South Asian Americans as a group, but Adit Ginde, co-author of the study, told India West Vitamin D deficiency was particularly acute in darker-skinned people.

To read more, please visit: http://www.indiawest.com/readmore.aspx?id=1058&sid=1.

HIV/AIDS Awareness Campaign Initiated by the Obama Administration

On March 16, SAHEP members posted an article on HIV/AIDS rates in Washington, DC and the affect that will have on South Asians.

In today's news, the Washington Post, posted an article on Obama's 5-year awareness campaign to increase awareness about HIV/AIDS. This campaign, "Act Against AIDS", includes PSA's, advertising in various modes of public transportation, text messages, and will create a website for detailed information.

According to Kevin Fenton, Director of the National Center for HIV/AIDS at CDC, "Every 9 1/2 minutes, someone's mother, someone's daughter, someone's father, someone's friend is infected". Additionally, Fenton indicated that one in five people who have HIV are not aware of it.

While most of the article discusses the impact of HIV/AIDS in the U.S, it also describes the concerns for individuals living in the Washington DC area, as the rate of people living with HIV/AIDS n the DC area is now at 3 percent.

How does this impact South Asians? What can SAHEP do and what can individuals do to raise the awareness of HIV/AIDS?

For more information, please visit: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/07/AR2009040703717.html?wprss=rss_metro

BMI Not An Accurate Obesity Measurement

The following is an excerpt from a forthcoming article in British Journal of Nutrition claims certain ethnic groups may not be getting accurate estimates of disease risk.

BMI is a formula that estimates a person’s body fat using only his/her weight and height. The result is then used to determine weight categories: 18.5 and below is considered underweight; 18.6 - 24.9 healthy; 25 - 29 overweight and 30+ obese.

In the current study, rather than using other potentially biased methods employed in the past as "gold standards" to examine body composition, researchers used dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry, which is a low dose x-ray known as DXA, to determine percent fat. DXA can be used to estimate bone density, lean mass and fat mass.

Since BMI is assumed to represent body fatness, an African American woman would not be considered overweight or obese until she reached a higher number than what is indicated by the current BMI standards. The opposite is the case for Hispanic, Asian and Asian-Indian woman. Their percent fat is higher by 1.65 percent, 2.65 percent and 5.98 percent, respectively. So they would be considered overweight or obese at amounts lower than what the BMI standards indicates. The results for men were similar.

For more information, please visit: http://www.redorbit.com/news/health/1666174/bmi_not_an_accurate_obesity_measurement/?wpisrc=newsletter