San Francisco, CA--Over 400 public health and health care professionals, researchers and scientists, consumers and community advocates from across the U.S. and the Pacific Islands will convene at the 2006 National Asian American & Pacific Islander(AAPI) Health Summit, on September 14-16, 2006 at the San Jose Marriot hotel in San Jose, California.

Sponsored by the Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum (APIAHF), a national health policy and advocacy organization, participants are expected to celebrate 20 years of AAPI health movement with a renewed dedication to improve the health status of AAPI’s.

“We are extremely excited about this unique gathering. Throughout the three day convening, with a particularly rich program, we are bringing together two hundred speakers or presenters to engage in ground-breaking dialogues with three hundred participants who represent a wide range of expertise and interests and come from extremely diverse racial and ethnic cultures. The broad goal is to articulate and mobilize around a national health agenda for Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders. We expect that effective new messages, solutions and strategies will be articulated and opinion leaders will be identified to support the agenda implementation,” commented Dr. Ho Luong Tran, President and Chief Executive Officer of APIAHF.

The Summit features interactive plenary sessions to examine the state of AAPI activism and movement building, universal health coverage and quality of care. A town hall meeting will, for the first time, bring together national Asian American, Pacific Islander, African American, Hispanic and Native American health leaders to explore common threads and strategies that can unite their communities’ efforts to eliminate health disparities impacting minorities.

Attendees will also participate in workshops addressing research and data collection, cancer survivorship, mental health, HIV/AIDs, domestic violence, language access and cultural competency, diabetes, Hepatitis B, disabilities, emergency preparedness, Medicare and Medicaid, and advocacy building.

“In twenty years, the AAPI community has built a solid foundation from which we have made strides toward ensuring equal access to quality health care and services for our community members.  However, we remain far from eliminating the disparities that impact our communities. This Summit will bring together our knowledge and strengths, and in unity we will build the next AAPI health movement to meet the challenges our increasing diverse communities face,” concluded Dr. Tran.

For Summit registration or further information, visit www.apiahf.org.