Policy Bulletins

Below are recent alerts and issues which are currently affecting the Asian American and Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities. For additional information, and some background on many of these issues, please see the Policy Issues section.

• Data collection bill moves forward in California State Assembly
  
  On March 23, 2010, the California State Assembly's Business and Professions Committee heard Assembly Bill 1737 (AB 1737), which would ensure that specified state agencies collect and publish data that are disaggregated into additional Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (AA and NHPI) ethnic groups, as currently reported by the U.S. Census. Recognizing the importance of having such data available, APPEAL wrote a letter of support for AB 1737, which passed out of committee by a 7-3 vote and was sent to the Assembly Appropriations Committee for consideration.
  
  AB 1737 aligns critical state data so that it is broken out into the additional Asian and Pacific Islander ethnic groups reported in the U.S. Census. These groups include Hmong, Tongan, Thai, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Sri Lankan, Malaysian, Indonesian, Taiwanese, and Fijian. This sort of disaggregation is important because, while overall data may show that AA and NHPI communities are doing better than average on certain social indicators, data that is separated out by ethnic group clearly shows that certain communities (especially among Pacific Islander and Southeast Asian ethnic groups such as Laotians, Cambodians and Hmong) continue to experience some of the greatest social needs, including some of the highest poverty rates and lowest educational attainment rates in California.

• APPEAL continues to monitor menthol provision in FDA law
  
  In summer of 2009, Congress passed Public Law No: 111-031, providing the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) with authority to regulate tobacco products. Various provisions of the law include restrictions on advertising, better warning labels, the creation of scientific and oversight committees to monitor compliance, the allocation of resources to enhance the FDA and other organizations in the control of tobacco products, and the immediate banning of fruit/candy flavorings. However, while these provisions are indeed commendable, Public Law 111-031 relies too heavily on "the FDA to determine" that menthol is an additive that would need further study prior to banning. Considering that menthol affects communities of color disproportionately, APPEAL is concerned that the protected status this law affords menthol would effectively devalue the health of communities of color even further.
  
  To implement the provisions of the law, the FDA announced the selection of the voting members of the Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee (TPSAC). The first meeting of the committee was held on March 30-31, 2010 and focused on the impact of the use of menthol in cigarettes on public health. APPEAL, in partnership with other CDC National Networks and as an advocate for removing the protected status of menthol in Public Law 111-031, will continue to monitor the discussions of the TPSAC on menthol in the future.
  
  To view the webcast of the March 30-31 meeting, please see the Meeting Webcast.
  
  For more information on this committee and on Public Law 111-031, please review the related press release, the official Advisory Committee Meeting Announcement, or visit the FDA Center for Tobacco Products.