The Asian & Pacific Islander Women's HIV/AIDS National Network (APIWHANN), founded in 1998, is a forum for APA women living with HIV and provides support on HIV/AIDS-related issues. Asian Pacific American women are a overlooked population in research on HIV/AIDS.
APIWHANN conducted 15 focus groups across the continental United States and in the Pacific Island Jurisdictions in 1999 and 2000. An ethnically diverse group of Cambodian, Chamorro, Chinese, Chuukese, Filipino, Japanese, Korean, Indian and Vietnamese American women participated in the study.
Reports Lina Sheth, HIV/AIDS is associated with shame, silence and fear in the APA community. Many APA women, whether single or in a partnered relationship, do not see themselves as being at risk for HIV and engage in unprotected sex. The focus groups also showed that a number of heterosexual women suspect that their male partners engage in sexual activities outside of their primary relationship. These women still feel they are at low risk for HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases. APA women participants reported being denied health care due to a lack of insurance and culturally relevant services. Many women felt that doctors were generally unreliable, indifferent and not helpful. (Source: Lina Sheth, AsianWeek, Jul 11, 2003).