White House Initiative Addresses Disparities for Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders

February 22, 2022 by Alec Stone MA, MPA, Former ONS Director of Government Affairs and Advocacy

Advancing equity, justice, and opportunity for Asian American (AA) and Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (NHPI) communities in the United States requires an ambitious, whole-of-government agenda, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced (https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2021/12/09/secretary-becerra-launches-biden-harris-administrations-white-house-initiative-on-asian-americans-native-hawaiians-pacific-islanders.html) in December 2021. To drive that agenda, the agency launched the Biden-Harris administration’s White House Initiative on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders (https://www.hhs.gov/about/whiaanhpi/index.html) (WHIAANHPI).

Created in response to the May 2021 Executive Order 14031 (https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/06/03/2021-11792/advancing-equity-justice-and-opportunity-for-asian-americans-native-hawaiians-and-pacific-islanders), Advancing Equity, Justice, and Opportunity for AAs and NHPIs, WHIAANHPI is advancing efforts (https://www.hhs.gov/about/whiaanhpi/about-us/index.html) across AA and NHPI communities to:

Addressing disparities and increasing diversity, equity, and inclusion in health care is a priority in ensuring quality care for all, especially those who do not have a representative voice. Join ONS in advocacy and explore relevant ONS Voice topic tags, such as patient advocacy (https://voice.ons.org/topic/patient-advocacy), access to cancer care (https://voice.ons.org/topic/access-to-cancer-care), cancer health disparities (https://voice.ons.org/topic/cancer-health-disparities), and patient financial advocacy (https://voice.ons.org/topic/patient-financial-advocacy), to learn more about the influence you have as a nurse in advocating for the inequities your patients experience.


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