No Equity without Data Equity: Data Reporting Gaps for Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders as Structural Racism

Area of Science:

• Health Equity Research
• Health Disparities
• Data Science

Background:

• Data on Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders (NHPIs) are often not collected or are aggregated, hindering advocacy and resource allocation.
• This data omission represents structural racism, contributing to systemic inequities for NHPI communities.
• Decades of calls for disaggregated NHPI data have not fully addressed these critical gaps.

Purpose of the Study:

• To audit US federal agencies' collection and reporting of disaggregated NHPI data.
• To examine state-level reporting of NHPI COVID-19 cases and deaths.
• To assess NHPI underrepresentation in resource allocation metrics using California's Healthy Places Index (HPI).

Main Methods:

• Conducted a data audit of US federal agencies' data collection and reporting practices for NHPIs.
• Analyzed state-level reporting of COVID-19 cases and deaths, focusing on NHPI data disaggregation.
• Utilized California's Healthy Places Index (HPI) to quantify NHPI underrepresentation in resource allocation.

Main Results:

• While national NHPI data collection has improved, significant federal data gaps persist.
• Over half of US states are not reporting NHPI COVID-19 case and death data, indicating substantial underreporting.
• The California Healthy Places Index (HPI) underrepresents NHPIs in communities targeted for COVID-19 resources.

Conclusions:

• Addressing data gaps in NHPI health and social determinants is essential for achieving health equity.
• Improved data equity, including disaggregated reporting, is critical for social justice and effective resource allocation for NHPI communities.
• Recommendations are proposed to enhance NHPI data equity at federal and state levels.