I encourage you all to sign up and become members. As a board member I hope to see much change within this organization over the next few years!
http://www.sapha.org/
Monday, November 23, 2009
South Asian Public Health Association
After many (many) years the South Asian Public Health Association finally has an updated website. Please refer to this website to see what is happening within our community!
Indian Vegetarian Cooking
A good friend passed this wonderful website to me. It provides great, easy healthy vegetarian cooking
http://www.manjulaskitchen.com/
Happy Cooking...
F.D.A to Clarify Nutrition Labels
The New York Times in October (sorry for the delayed post) reported the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is scheduled to clarify food labels. Now this - would be good for South Asians, particularly individuals who may have a lower english-proficiency level.
The FDA proposes that by early 2010, companies must follow the standard of putting nutrition food labels on front of all food packaging. Thus, forcing manufacturers to provide consumers quick access to dietary information. According to the article, Dr. Margaret A. Hamburg, the F.D.A. commissioner, said that under the changes being discussed, putting nutrition information on the front of packages would be voluntary. But if manufacturers chose to do so, then they would have to comply with the new F.D.A. rules.
Progress on Health Insurance Reform
I apologize for not blogging lately - it seems that I got caught up in life and have clearly missed on some great blogging materials. For one - Health Care Reform!!
Over the past few weeks - Health Care Reform has been exceedingly discussed (as should be) everywhere. Recently, SAALT provided a great summary of the update news...
Over the past few weeks, there have been numerous developments in health insurance reform. Below is a quick rundown of what has happened recently in Congress and the impact on immigrants living in the US.
- House of Representatives: The House of Representatives have merged three bills developed by various committees in the chamber. On Saturday, November 7th, the House passed its version of health reform which includes the public option; prevents insurance companies from discriminating based on gender or health status; expands Medicaid eligibility; prioritizes preventative care; allows undocumented immigrants to participate in the health insurance exchange by using their own money; and increases access to culturally and linguistically appropriate health services. In addition, the bill also prohibits public money from being spent on plans covering abortion, even if paid for with private premium dollars.
- Senate: Two Senate committees, the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) and Finance Committees, have developed their versions of reform. The Senate is expected to start debate sometime next week with a possible vote in December.
None of the bills currently include any provisions that would life the 5-year waiting period for legal immigrants to become eligible for Medicaid and CHIP. Another issue affecting immigrants being considered is whether to impose additional verification requirements on immigrants in order to access the health care system.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
The Need for Affordable and Accessible Health Care
This blog is directly taken from SAALT's blog. I find it extremely invaluable in the work that we push forward and want to share thoughts of organizations with similar missions.
Did you know that as many as 40% of South Asians under 65 report not having a regular source for health care? Or that one-third of all South Asians worldwide has diabetes? Or that 90% of LGBT respondents in a Los Angeles study reported mental health issues? These are some of the startling statistics I learned at last week’s South Asian Health Reform Town Hall co-sponsored by SAALT, theSouth Asian Law Student Association at American University’s Washington College of Law, andCounselors Helping (South) Asians/Indians. Moderated by SAALT Policy Director Priya Murthy, a panel of three health care experts told stories and shared facts about the ways that our health care system and potential legislative solutions affect South Asian and immigrant communities.
The first presenter, Dr. Lavanya Sithandanam, shared heartbreaking stories from her pediatrics practice, such as informally treating serious illnesses of (undocumented immigrant) parents when they came to her office for their (U.S. citizen) child’s appointment, or watching parents of her patients die of treatable diseases simply because they could not afford health care – despite working several jobs in order to provide better lives for their children. She further demonstrated the broken nature of our health insurance/health care system, explaining how insurance companies are making doctors’ jobs more and more difficult by not covering basic preventive health care, by making the process of applying for reimbursements more and more complicated, and by covering fewer and fewer necessary costs such as basic vaccines. And we learned that most doctors support health care reform that includes a public option.
The second presenter, Sapna Pandya, MPH, works with immigrant communities on health care issues. The information she shared focused on the ways that South Asian community members face barriers to receiving health care, including concerns about their visa status, high costs associated with doctor or hospital visits, inadequate transportation options, and limited ability to read or understand English (and let’s face it, even those of us who were practically born reading English can barely make sense of long, complicated health forms filled with medical and legal jargon). She reminded us of the range of health issues that affect our communities, from diabetes and obesity to intimate-partner violence and mental health problems including depression, loneliness, and isolation.
The panel then turned to legislative solutions being offered through House and Senate bills. Alice Dong, Health Law Policy Staff Attorney at Asian American Justice Center (AAJC), provided information about the various bills that are being debated. For the past several months, essentially since August, bills have gotten more and more immigrant-unfriendly. For example, new immigrants must wait five full years before having access to Medicaid or Medicare – this includes infants, children, and the elderly, for whom five years is an incredibly long time to wait for health care. By the time these future Americans finally have access to affordable health care, their health conditions will be far worse than if they had had continuous access from the time they arrived. For undocumented immigrants, the situation foreshadowed by legislative proposals is even more dire, even if they are willing and able to pay for their own insurance. As Alice Dong put it, “politics has taken over logic” in our current health care debates.
From hearing individual stories of difficulties in health care to learning about the extent of structural and medical health disparities, I was moved to take action. Are you? If so, there are steps you can take to get involved and make your voice heard. You can contact your members of Congress to let them know that you support health insurance reform that is affordable and accessible to all.Thursday, October 22, is National Call Day for immigrant inclusion in health reform. Please take two minutes this Thursday to call Speaker Pelosi, NY Representative Rangel, and your Representative with the following message:
“I want Congress to end the five-year waiting period for legal immigrants in Medicaid. I expect Congress to follow New York’s good example and treat legal immigrants the same as citizens in health reform. I also think health reform should include everyone, but until that happens, the safety net health care system must be protected so that people who can’t afford to buy health insurance can still get the health care they need.”
You can reach Speaker Pelosi, Representative Rangel, and your Representative by calling 202- 224-3121. To find your Representative, go to http://www.house.gov/ and enter your zip code.
There are other ways you can get involved: you can join town halls and rallies in your local area; you can write an op-ed sharing your views on health reform; or you can share your own health care story with organizations such as AAJC that are working to collect and disseminate stories about health care issues and difficulties to Congress. And finally, make sure to stay informed and spread the word: you can find updated health reform fact sheets and other resources on SAALT’s website, www.saalt.org.
Health Reform Alert: Call Congress to Support Fair Treatment of Immigrants and Join a Webinar on Health Reform and South Asians
Want to learn more about health care issues affecting the South Asian community?
- Join a webinar on "Health Reform and the South Asian Community" on Monday, October 26th at 2 pm EST/1 pm CST/11 am PST to learn the latest from experts and discuss what it means for the South Asian community. Register for the webinar by clicking here. (After registering you will receive a confirmation email with a link and call-in information and access code. Before the webinar, click the link and call in to the number from your confirmation email. When prompted, enter the access code.)
- Check out two health reform factsheets developed by SAALT on "What You Need to Know about Health Insurance Reform" and "Health Care Issues Affecting South Asians in the United States"
- Learn more about health care issues affecting immigrants by visiting the APIA Health Forum's, the Asian American Justice Center's, and theNational Immigration Law Center's websites.
So Much Going on at APHA
Here is a listing of just a few events...if you are at APHA they are GREAT networking events!
As I receive more information, I'll send them along..
Sunday Events:
South Asian Public Health Association Annual Dinner
Sunday, November 8th
TBD
www.sapha.org
Monday Events:
Monday, November 9th, 6:30am - 8:00am
Loews Philadelphia Hotel, Regency C1 Ballroom
Event Details: studentrep@apicaucus.org
Tuesday Events:
Tuesday, November 10th, 8:00pm-10:00pm
35th Anniversary Social Reception
Golden Phoenix Restaurant http://www.hkgolden.phoenix.com
Event Details: chair@apicaucus.org
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