Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) are the fastest-growing racial group in the United States, yet many face serious and underrecognized health disparities. According to Pfizer, nearly 19.4% of Asian adults report lacking a usual source of health care, compared to 12.9% of white adults. Cost barriers play a major role, with Cambodians and Vietnamese three times more likely to skip doctor visits than other Americans.
Preventive care gaps are striking. Cervical cancer screening rates lag significantly among Asian American women, with only 60.5% of Vietnamese women in California reporting a pap test in the past three years, compared with 86.2% of women statewide. Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders report poorer prenatal care and higher infant mortality rates than whites, while AAPI women overall have seen a faster increase in breast cancer incidence than any other racial or ethnic group.
Disease risks are unevenly distributed. AAPI communities face higher rates of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, hepatitis B, liver disease, and tuberculosis. They are also twice as likely to develop and die from stomach and liver cancer compared with white Americans. Within subgroups, disparities stand out: U.S. Filipinos report higher rates of obesity, hypertension, diabetes, and asthma; Vietnamese women born in the U.S. face a fourfold higher risk of dying from breast cancer; and Korean Americans report smoking rates as high as 35.5%.
Pfizer emphasizes the importance of annual checkups, culturally responsive care, and language support to close these gaps and improve outcomes across diverse AAPI communities.
See: “Health Disparities Among Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders” (September 1, 2025)
