General Inquiries:
Daniel Pham
National Vice President of Advocacy
Asian Pacific American Medical Student Association
advocacy@apamsa.org
WASHINGTON – The House’s Energy and Commerce Committee passed the bipartisan South Asian Heart Health Awareness and Research Act (“the Act”) on May 18th, 2022. APAMSA commends the progression of this important legislation.
The Act, introduced by Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) and Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC), would create grants annually within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for actionable public health interventions ranging awareness initiatives, educational materials, and research catalogs targeted at the South Asian community.
Additionally, the Act would authorize the National Institutes of Health to conduct or support heart health research among the South Asian population and establish a clearinghouse and web portal of information on heart health.
Cardiovascular disease is widely known to be the leading cause of death in the United States, yet this issue is even more pressing among South Asian Americans. South Asians around the world (people from Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka) bear a higher risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) and a higher mortality rate from ischemic heart disease than other populations.
Importantly, Asian Americans have a lower ASCVD risk than other populations but only by disaggregating the data can it elucidate that the South Asian American population has a heightened risk of ASCVD. The increased prevalence of risk factors such as diabetes mellitus, hyperlipidemia, and hypertension in these communities is what drives this increased ASCVD burden in this population. The Act would provide grants for disaggregated research on ASCVD and related diseases for the South Asian American population.
APAMSA recognizes the importance of data disaggregation to further understand the unique challenges and public health burdens in our underserved communities, and this bill is a significant step in furthering that vision.
Asian Pacific American Medical Student Association (APAMSA) is a 501(c)(3) national organization of medical and pre-medical students committed to addressing the unique health challenges of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, & Pacific Islander (AANHPI) communities.