During the recent meeting of Pacific Islands Health Officers Association (PIHOA) in American Samoa last month, they put together a resolution declaring a State of Health Emergency in the region due to non-communicable diseases epidemic.
“Non-communicable diseases like diabetes, heart disease and hypertension are becoming an epidemic in Palau,” said Minister of Health and PIHOA President Stevenson Kuartei in an interview. “The leading causes of death and medical referrals are related to these chronic illnesses which are actually preventable.”
Non-communicable diseases are also called chronic illnesses or lifestyle diseases. Dr. Kuartei said that they are related to lack of physical activities, poor diet, tobacco and overuse of alcohol.
Although the MOH has programs and campaigns addressing these non-communicable diseases, Dr. Kuartei strategy is ‘to nip it in the bud’.
“Locally, we are going to start dealing with childhood obesity,” said Dr. Kuartei. “We are putting together a discussion paper where we are going to work with the Ministry of Education, Bureau of Agriculture and Fisheries, Commerce and the Community to look at how we can best deal with child obesity in Palau.”
In a survey done by the Family Health Unit of Public Health in 2009, it was found that 18 percent of Palauan school-age children are obese and an additional 15 percent are at risk to develop obesity.
“If we are starting with 18.5 rate of obesity among children in Palau, then the next generation will suffer,” said Dr. Kuartei.
Dr. Kuartei said they need to address the issue to include lunch program in schools, make local products available, begin advocacy to parents in Palau to help improve their children’s diet and increase physical activities.
“With that comes the role of domestic help, how we can work with them to make sure that the kids that they are taking care of while the parents are working also get physical activity and well-balanced diet,” Dr. Kuartei said.
The minister will also meet with all the stakeholders to see how they can address the issue of child obesity in Palau as a team.
//
