The U.S. Congress’ plan to eliminate funding for the Area Health Education Center or AHEC program has sparked concern at the College of the Marshall Islands and among regional health officials.
“This is a cause for great concern for the Marshall Islands, the College of the Marshall Islands and the future for improving nursing education and public health in general,” said Interim President of the Majuro-based college Carl Hacker Monday.
If AHEC funding is eliminated, “plans to move forward with improving nursing education and plans to establish the bachelor of science in nursing will be jeopardized,” Hacker said. “This is something that the RMI simply cannot afford at this time.”
Dr. Greg Dever, who directs the Palau AHEC that is based at Palau Community College, said eliminating AHEC will hurt a range of public health and nursing degree programs in the region.
“This will adversely impact on the development of the associate of sciences degree in public health at Palau Community College, the college’s local nursing program and retard any development at the College of the Marshall Islands in the associate of science degree in public health program,” Dever said. “It will also definitely lead to adverse cuts in the now-accredited associate of science degree in public health program and new accredited nursing program at the College of Micronesia in Pohnpei, as well as nursing programs at the University of Guam and Guam Community College.”
These U.S.-affiliated islands have struggled with developing preventive health programs to address an epidemic of lifestyle-related diseases such as diabetes and hypertension, as well as communicable diseases such as TB and leprosy at least in part because of a shortage of trained public health workers. The AHEC funding focuses largely on developing high school and college-based training program for nurses and public health workers.
“AHECs have been transformative in the region,” said Dever of the public health training work launched through the program at local colleges.
Hacker said efforts to increase the recruitment of young people into nursing may be in jeopardy, “especially if we want to get at improving the quality of education, the improved health and nursing academy plans that are under consideration are in trouble.”
Hacker said it is important to improve these academies, aimed at high school students, to help improve the “quality of education and chances for students to succeed.”
Dr. Kelley Withy, the Executive Director of the Hawaii-Pacific Basin AHEC who is based at the John A. Burns School of Medicine at the University of Hawaii said a visit to Washington, D.C. late last week did not improve chances for retaining the program.
“I just returned from D.C. and it is very frustrating,” he said. “They [congressional officials] don’t seem to realize that if they cut a program like this, they can’t just start it back up when money becomes available.”
