Deputy Secretary for Public Health Lynnette F. Tenorio said the summit aims to promote partnership, integration, and system building, where appropriate, in the respective jurisdictions and eventually at the regional level.
At least 130 public health and community workers from the CNMI, the Marshall Islands, Guam, the Federated States of Micronesia, Palau and American Samoa., including representatives of federal funding partners, are participating in the summit.
Tenorio said diabetes in the Pacific region is a “huge problem” that also affects the children’s quality of life.
The summit will discuss different ways to reduce the risk and complications of diabetes, she added.
Guam Lt. Gov. Michael W. Cruz, a medical doctor, yesterday talked about the health policies and initiatives that provide primary prevention activities, while CNMI Commonwealth Health Center physical therapy department manager Pam Carhill discussed local diabetes management and obesity prevention efforts.
Tenorio said summit will develop a plan to “address barriers that predispose people to diabetes and its complications.”
Also yesterday, Public Health Secretary Joseph Kevin Villagomez, the president of Pacific Islands Health Officers Association, talked about the “Pacific Perspective” on diabetes programs.
Tenorio said the summit is supported by the U.S. Office of Global Health Affairs, the U.S. National Institutes for Health, the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration, the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Office of Insular Affairs, the U.S. Indian Health Services, the U.S. Office of Minority Health, the U.S. Office of Pacific Health and Human Services, the U.S. Office on Women’s Health and the U.S. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.
