The 2006 Triangle Asian American Health Fair was held last September 10th, 2006 at Laurel Hills Community Center in Raleigh. It was co-hosted by NAAAP, CAFA, and TACAS with sponsorships from Kroger, Lowes, Genworth Financial, State Farm, Duke University Health System, Sam's Club, China Star, and unrestricted educational support by GSK (GlaxoSmithKline). The Health Fair highlighted diseases and healthcare issues that disproportionately affect Asians, Asian multilingual health services, Asian American healthcare professionals, Oriental medicine, martial arts and fitness regimens.
The event was a big success with over 45 exhibitors, 10 speakers, and 8 demonstrations that provided multi-lingual health information to approximately 1000 visitors.
Health information sessions on topics such as hepatitis-B, liver cancer, breast cancer, cardiovascular disease, eye care, ENT issues, osteoporosis, laws on medical decisions and estates, and Medicare were presented by professionals like Dorrie Green, Dr. Doris Lin, Dr. Kathy Shipp, Dr. Paul Hayashi, Deputy Commissioner Carla Obiol of the NC Dept. of Insurance, Dr. Asma Khan of Triangle Eye Institute, Atty. Elizabeth Eagen, Dr. Lawrence Liao, and Dr. Paul Lee.
Demonstrations were provided by Triangle Kendo Iaido, Chinese Kung Fu Center, Triangle's Best Karate, Magic Tortoise Tai Chi, Xiaoqin Wu Turner (tai chi sword), and Vicky Wheeler and Katie Mazza (Indian yoga).
Booths and exhibits were provided by 45 groups including Boat People SOS, NIEHS Sister Study, South Asian Domestic Violence Working Group/Kiran, Asian Pacific American Medical Students Association, Jade Ribbon Campaign/Team HBV (Stanford Asian Liver Center), Philippine Nurses Association, Duke Health Raleigh Hospital, National Marrow Donor Program, Carolina Pain Consultants, Planned Parenthood, Wake County EMS, Raleigh Fire Department, acupuncture clinics, Wake Law Office, National Kidney Foundation, American Heart Association, Duke Urology of Raleigh, and many others.
We would like to acknowledge NAAAP members who made a big difference at the fair. Julia Yip coordinated logistics and volunteers at the fair. Lieon Kit and Nicola Prall were Programming Chairs responsible for soliciting exhibitors, speakers and demonstrators. Hector Javier, outgoing NAAAP-NC President, was one of the Project Managers. Lastly, we would like to thank those NAAAP members who came out to volunteer at the event and made this event a success. Among those who helped at various stages throughout the project were David Yang, Mark Wah, Hannah Fang, Joseph Cao, Jessie Chen, Laura Liao, Leroy Lee, Giles Shih, Jesse Mabellos, Hsiupei Chen, Jason Chow, Akiko Yoshizawa, Judy Tseng, Binh Truong, Naomi Takeuchi, Nila Kucharski, Dr. Ted Suh, and others.
We also thank the principal leaders of NAAAP's coalition partners for this event, including Lily Chan and Cyndy Yu-Robinson (TACAS), Hu Hui and Daling Wen (CAFA), as well as Kannan Ramanathan (South Asian outreach) and Monette Mabolo (Philippine Nurses Association liaison).
There was positive feedback among most exhibitors and speakers regarding this event. The health fair hosts will look forward to having another and bigger Asian American Health Fair next year.
Photos below courtesy of Lieon Kit, Hector Javier, and Jusheng Feng.
