0.17%

A cross-sectional study investigated the level of investment by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to fund clinical research that focused on Asian American, Nativa Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander populations (AA/NHPI) and found 529 clinical research projects funded between 1992 and 2018. Findings showed that only 0.17% of the overall NIH budget was allocated to these projects over two decades. This proportion increased from 0.12% before 2000 to 0.18% after 2000.

AA/NHPI invividuals represent more than 5% of the US-American population. Nevertheless, according to Ghosh, between 1986 and 2000, AA/NHPI participants were represented in only 0.2% of all health-related federal expenditures. The findings of Doàn et al. (2019) match the former study carried out by Gosh. Since then, the number of AA/NHPI-only grants has increased but they account for only one-fifth of 1% of the NIH's clinical research budget.

Due to data grouped together, the Heckler Report published in 1985 came to the conclusion that AA/NHPI populations are healthier than other ethnic groups in the United States. The stereotype of the model minority population negatively affects some subgroups (e.g. Vietnamese). Disaggregated data is needed to understand disparities, complexities by subgroup, and social factors associated with health since AA/NHPI populations represent more than fifty countries or cultures and hundred languages.

For example, in aggregate, AA/NHPI adult rates of liver cancer incidence and mortality are double those of non-Hispanic white adults. However, when data are disaggregated, liver cancer incidence is 7 times higher and 9 times higher for Laotian men and women, respectively, compared with non-Hispanic white adults. (Đoàn et al, 2019)

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- Đoàn LN, Takata Y, Sakuma KK, Irvin VL. (2019). Trends in Clinical Research Including Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Participants Funded by the US National Institutes of Health, 1992 to 2018. JAMA Netw Open, 2(7):e197432. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2019.7432, link
- photograph by Chen Man via