[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 48 (Tuesday, March 25, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Page S4381]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. INOUYE (for himself and Mr. Akaka):
  S. 702. A bill to amend the Native Hawaiian Health Care Improvement 
Act to revise and extend that Act; to the Committee on Indian Affairs.
  Mr. INOUYE. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce a bill to 
reauthorize the Native Hawaiian Health Care Improvement Act. Senator 
Akaka joins me in sponsoring this measure.
  The Native Hawaiian Health Care Improvement Act was enacted into law 
in 1988, and has been reauthorized every four years since that time.
  The Act provides authority for a range of programs and services 
designed to improve the health care status of the Native people of 
Hawaii.
  With the enactment of the Native Hawaiian Health Care Improvement Act 
and the establishment of Native Hawaiian health care systems on most of 
the islands that make up the State of Hawaii, we have witnessed 
significant improvements in the health status of Native Hawaiians, but 
as the findings of unmet needs and health disparities set forth in this 
bill make clear, we still have a long way to go.
  For instance, Native Hawaiians have the highest cancer mortality 
rates in the State of Hawaii--rates that are 21 percent higher than the 
rate for the total State male population and 64 percent higher than the 
rate for the total State female population. Nationally, Native 
Hawaiians have the third highest mortality rate as a result of breast 
cancer.
  With respect to diabetes, in 2000, Native Hawaiians had the highest 
mortality rate associated with diabetes in the State--a rate which is 
138 percent higher than the statewide rate for all racial groups.
  When it comes to heart disease, the mortality rate of Native 
Hawaiians associated with heart disease is 68 percent higher than the 
rate for the entire State, and the mortality rate for hypertension is 
84 percent higher than that for the entire State.
  These statistics on the health status of Native Hawaiians are but a 
small part of the long list of data that makes clear that our objective 
of assuring that the Native people of Hawaii attain some parity of good 
health comparable to that of the larger U.S. population has not yet 
been achieved.
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