Center for Science and Policy
“Improving the science base and promoting scientific research.”

A growing body of research challenges long-held notions about health and well being.  Despite having less access to health services, lower income, and less education, Hispanics have a longer life expectancy than non-Hispanic whites.¹  Indeed much of the data on Hispanic health run counter to current notions of health risk and wellness.  For example, despite having higher rates of risk factors for heart disease (e.g. diabetes and obesity), Hispanics have a lower mortality rate from heart disease than do non-Hispanic whites.²  At the same time, however, research also shows that the adoption of U.S. cultural norms is eroding the health advantage in Hispanic communities.³

Exploring the roles of lifestyle, community, family, faith, genetics, and the environment is key to understanding the Hispanic health experience and holds the promise of improved health for all communities.  Despite the need for a better understanding of Hispanic health, today less than 3% of NIH-funded researchers are Hispanic, and Hispanics represent less than 4% of advanced degrees awarded in the sciences every year.⁴

Supporting new models of research to understand the Hispanic health experience is a central goal of the Center for Science and Policy.  The Center promotes innovative and culturally proficient research, supports Hispanic scientists as well as youth interested in science, advocates for increased attention to Hispanic health research, and communicates new developments in science to our constituents.  These efforts ensure that consumers benefit from cutting edge science to inform their personal health decisions, and that health providers have the best science to deliver the best care to their patients.

The Alliance is the nation’s premier voice on Hispanic health policy because policy is based on the best scientific data available.  This foundation strengthens the Alliance’s work on behalf of Hispanic constituencies to ensure accountability by public and private sectors alike.   Through policy research, community leadership, legislative advocacy, regulatory oversight, and strategic partnerships, the Alliance is the nation’s voice for the power and promise of community-based solutions to improve health throughout the Americas.

Current Programs: Covering the Working Uninsured; Healthy People 2010; Hispanic Health Needs Assessment (HHNA); Juntos Executive Briefings; Limited English Proficiency (LEP) Leadership Network; Nuestras Voces National Hispanic Leadership Network for Tobacco Control; Proyecto Ciencia (Project Science); and, Public Health Emergency Preparedness in the Hispanic Community.

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Some key facts . . .
“Unexpected findings create need for better science.”

Life expectancy at birth by sex, race/ethnicity		Death rates for diseases of the heart by race/ethnicity
Source: U.S. Census Bureau.  Projected Life Expectancy at Birth by Race and Hispanic Origin: 1999-2100.” Population Projections January 2000. Note: Data do not include the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.		Source: National Center for Health Statistics.  “National Vital Statistics Report.  Deaths: Final Data for 2000.” Vol. 50, No. 15, September 16, 2002. Note: Data do not include the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

Average annual cancer incidence rates by sex, race/ethnicity

Current Science and Policy Programs:

Proyecto Ciencia — Project Science
Hispanics represent less than 2% of principal investigators in research grants from the National Institutes of Health.   Proyecto Ciencia was conceived to address the need to increase the number of Hispanics in the sciences and to support the efforts of Hispanics involved in science research.  Proyecto Ciencia has three major goals: establishment of new mechanisms for ongoing interaction with the NIH leadership, development of communication infrastructures for Hispanic scientists, and creation of a forum for ongoing exchanges between scientists and Hispanic community-based leadership.  Proyecto Ciencia is funded by the National Institutes of Health, National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health.

Nuestras Voces: National Hispanic Tobacco Control Leadership Network
Although tobacco consumption has declined over the last two decades, tobacco companies have attempted to create new markets by targeting Hispanic youth.  While Hispanic adults are the racial or ethnic group least likely to smoke, Hispanic early adolescents are now the group most likely to smoke and smoking rates are increasing among Latinas and are higher among 2nd generation Hispanics.   The Network is responding to this trend by supporting an assessment of community and leadership priorities in nine Hispanic communities and developing programs to address those community-determined needs.  Efforts have included local youth advocacy, monitoring of tobacco sales to under-age youth, compliance with advertising bans, peer education, community tobacco control summits, and media advocacy.  The Network is funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Office on Smoking and Health.

LEP Action Center
The National Alliance for Hispanic Health has established the online LEP Action Center as a resource area for the latest news and policy developments in support of providing services to LEP persons.   The physician and dental societies have written to Secretary Thompson asking the Department to impose a moratorium on the DHHS " Policy Guidance on the Title VI Prohibition Against National Origin Discrimination As It Affects Persons With Limited English Proficiency (August 30, 2000)." In response, the Alliance along with the nation's leading health associations have formed a coalition in support of full implementation of the LEP policy guidance.  The Alliance has briefed the Administration on the importance of keeping the Department’s LEP policy in place, submitted testimony to the Office of Management and Budget, testified before the Secretary’s Advisory Group on Regulatory Reform, is monitoring legal challenges to the LEP policy, and is working with the nation’s medical societies to develop a joint plan for delivering LEP services.   The LEP Action Center has the latest news and advisories on LEP services and the Alliance’s efforts to achieve full implementation of the DHHS LEP policy guidance under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.

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Science and Policy News Office of Management and Budget report to Congress finds “significant” benefit to providing LEP Services. Press Release: http://www.whitehouse.gov/ omb/pubpress/ Report:(PDF) http://www.whitehouse.gov/ omb/inforeg/lepfinal3-14.pdf JAMA Devotes Issue to Research Dirty Bombs Much More Likely to Create Fear than Cause Cancer

Updated: April 30, 2004