The survey will be done in the CNMI for the first time and is in the planning stage now, Public Health epidemiologist Edward P. Diaz Jr. said.
The set of questions that will be used for the survey has already been drafted.
“It’s going to be a big health survey,” Diaz said.
Jose T. Liwanag, director of the central statistics division of the Department of Commerce, said they will conduct the survey and will hire enumerators
Community Guidance Center Director Josephine Sablan said Public Health is the lead agency for the project which will also be funded by the center.
She said questions relating to substance and alcohol abuse will be included.
The center, she added, will focus on mental health issues.
“So that way we would also have an idea as far as the extent of mental health issues and prevalence of substance abuse in the community,” she said.
The center’s 2009 report stated that surveys on tobacco use among adults have not been conducted in the CNMI.
Surveys on the prevalence of adult tobacco use, the report said, are needed to further determine the extent of relationship with the three leading causes of deaths in the commonwealth — heart disease, cancer and stroke.
The surveys will also determine the effects of second-hand smoke in the workplace and other public establishments, the report stated.
“I’m really glad that finally we will be getting information that tells us about adult use of tobacco and other substance concern,” Sablan said.
