The workgroup was established last year by the Community Guidance Center to build an epidemiological profile for the CNMI.
Partly funded by the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, epidemiological profiling aims to develop capacity to systematically collect, analyze and report relevant data on substance abuse patterns and consequences.
With the Department of Public Health as lead agency, the workgroup also includes partners from the Department of Public Safety, the Division of Youth Services, the Criminal Justice Planning Agency, the Public School System, the Department of Commerce, Northern Marianas College, the Division of Customs and the Legislature.
During the workgroup’s meeting at the Fiesta Resort & Spa last Friday, the members discussed updates.
Department of Public Health epidemiologist Ed Diaz said they have a lot of gaps within their system.
Although they conduct, for example, surveys on prevalence of smoking on a specified population, “it’s hard to determine if somebody is smoking or not,” he said.
Vivian Nogis, who represented Customs, disclosed loopholes in collecting data for imported commodities, particularly cigarettes.
Customs, she added, lacks an electronic system and has limited personnel and funding.
However, there are still a number of things that the workgroup can do to move ahead with its epidemiological profile building.
Community Guidance Center Director Josephine T. Sablan said these include progress reports, a dissemination plan, a sustainability plan, a substance abuse monitoring system, a charter work plan and goals, community data, performance management and updated epidemiological profile.
Sablan said the center is serious in developing sustainability.
Substance abuse monitoring, she added, is something new and she hopes all partners will collaborate in developing it.
