The Pacific Islands Health Officers Association represents the six U.S.-affiliated islands in the Pacific: American Samoa, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Palau, Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas. It was formed in the late 1980s. Numerous health officials from the World Health Organization, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and the U.S. Defense Department are also expected to attend the meeting.
A new two-year degree program in public health to be launched at the College of Micronesia in Pohnpei next month and later at Palau Community College will be announced at the meeting, in addition to graduate and post-graduate opportunities for presently practicing nurses and doctors in the region, according to Dr. Gregory Dever, who directs the Palau Area Health Education Center and Palau National Hospitals clinical services.
Regional dental training, diabetes control programs, health emergency training, a regional cancer registry, and climate change impacts on public health are among key topics at the five-day meeting that concludes Friday.
Northern Mariana Islands Health Secretary Joseph Kevin Villagomez is president of PIHOA, and will be leading a two-day review at week’s end of regional health efforts aimed at revising PIHOA’s strategic direction.
