By Gerardo R. Partido
Variety News Staff

THE Assistant Secretary for Health has committed to visiting Guam to assist the island with its increased health needs in light of the military’s expansion, according to Lt. Gov. Michael W. Cruz, who is in Washington, D.C. to lobby for more federal health resources.
According to Cruz, he has secured a commitment for an increase in federal health resources for Guam from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services official responsible for such matters as disease prevention and minority health care.
Cruz said he met for 45 minutes with U.S. Assistant Secretary for Health Admiral Dr. John O. Agwunobi as part of a series of meetings with DHHS officials at the Herbert H. Humphrey Building in Washington, D.C.
The lieutenant governor is meeting with federal officials while he is in Washington, D.C. to participate in the 2007 Winter Meetings of the National Lieutenant Governors Association.
“The Department of Health and Human Services acknowledges its obligation to support Guam. Admiral Agwunobi recognized the unique realities we face on Guam with health threats of disease outbreaks from Southeast Asia. He knows Guam is central to the federal government’s strategy to protect America from these outbreaks,” Cruz said in a statement.
Agwunobi, the Chief Public Health Advisor to the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, told Cruz that Guam is of strategic importance to the U.S. He has committed to a visit later this year to meet with Gov. Felix P. Camacho and local healthcare leaders to discuss an increased DHHS presence in the Pacific Rim.
Cruz also spoke to Agwunobi about the movement of U.S. Marines to Guam from Okinawa. Agwunobi expressed his interest in the Guam Master Plan that is being developed in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Defense Office of Economic Adjustment.
“Admiral Agwunobi will play a significant role in the impending military expansion. They are interested in helping us to improve our health and the resources for better health care, especially as the military expansion happens. This is something the Guam Master Plan will address,” Cruz said.
The lieutenant governor also met with DHHS Intergovernmental Affairs Director Jack Kalavritinos to discuss Guam’s support of the president’s Health Care Initiative.
He discussed ways to strengthen the Healthy Guam Initiative being finalized, with the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports Executive Director Melissa Johnson.