I’m In Campaign

By Mary Tablante

Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders face unique health disparities, but not enough are participating in clinical trials that help find better treatments and fight disease.

To increase diversity in clinical trials, the “I’m In” campaign launched in March to target AAPI, African American and Hispanic communities.

The “I’m In” website is a resource for patients to find clinical trials in their area and for physicians and organizations to access critical information to help patients.

Dr. Ho Tran, a physician and executive director of the National Council of Asian & Pacific Islander Physicians (NCAPIP), said it is important for AAPIs to participate in trials to benefit their communities and family members. Clinical trials can measure how different populations are affected by certain treatments.

For instance, although cancer is the number one cause of death among Asian Americans, only 2.8 percent of Asian Americans participate in clinical trials. Asian Americans are also disproportionately affected by chronic obstructed pulmonary disease (COPD), hepatitis B and tuberculosis. Participation in clinical trials can help researchers find more effective ways to battle diseases that affect certain populations, according to the Food and Drug Administration.

Tran said that physicians must be properly informed in order to encourage their patients to participate in trials.

Plus trials are important for doctors: “Patients come to us looking for assistance and guidance … we owe it to them to share all possibilities and answer their questions so they can make their best decisions,” Tran said. “Part of this should touch on clinical trials to address the condition that our patients are currently dealing with or attempting to prevent.”

Tran added that the challenges in getting more AAPIs to participate include researchers not reaching out to AAPI communities and that some AAPIs may not see clinical trials as trustworthy enough.

“(AAPIs) are not being reached out to as we should by the researchers, assuming that either we don’t have a problem or assuming that we are so small a population that any medication would be good for us,” she said.

A misconception about clinical trials is patients might think they are guinea pigs participating in the first stage in the process. However, by the time a medication reaches the clinical trial phase, the potential new treatment has already been in development for at least three to six years.

Another myth is that one must be ill or have health problems to participate, but healthy participants are needed in clinical trials as well.

Tran’s approach to encouraging a patient to participate in a clinical trial is to have a true discussion with them and explain to them the benefits

“It is not only for themselves, but they are paving the road for the future generation,” she said. “It could be their own family members that they would be benefitting from truly understanding how it would affect an Asian population.”

To download toolkits, sign up for notifications for clinical trials near you and learn more, go to the “I’m In” website at www.JoinImIn.org.

Resources are available in Korean and Vietnamese. The “I’m In” campaign was created in collaboration with the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) and the National Minority Quality Forum.