Papa Ola Lokahi, the Native Hawaiian Health Board, established in federal law as the lead agency addressing Native Hawaiian health issues, has recently established the National Native Hawaiian Epidemiology Center.  The Center’s role will be to collect, analyze, and report on Native Hawaiian health-related data.  The model for the center is similar to that which has evolved over the past few years for American Indian and Alaska Native tribes. Native Hawaiians, like American Indians and Alaska Natives, are Indigenous Peoples of the United States.

The Native Hawaiian population numbers almost 500,000 people in the United States, with about 3,000 Native Hawaiians living in Canada.  Over the years, Native Hawaiian health status has been masked by its aggregation with Asian populations under an antiquated ‘API’ (Asian Pacific Islander) identifier.  In 1998, OMB dis-aggregated this identifier and formed separate Asian and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander identifiers for racial and ethnic reporting.

Unfortunately, a few federal and state agencies and private foundations continue to produce reports using the old API identifier instead of breaking out the Native Hawaiian population. One of the tasks of the new Native Hawaiian Epidemiology Center will be to advocate for compliance with current federal reporting standards for racial and ethnic data.  

The first report of the Center was published as chapter 5 (pp. 107-118) in Indigenous Children’s Health Report, Health Canada, 2009, which can be viewed at http://www.stmichaelshospital.com/crich/indigenous_childrens_health_report.php.  The Center is located in Honolulu, Hawaii and its director is Dr. Maile Taualii. She can be reached at (808) 591-6653 or mtaualii@papaolalokahi.org.

Hardy Spoehr, Executive Director

Papa Ola Lokahi (Native Hawaiian Health Board)

894 Queen Street

Honolulu, HI 96813