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Group seeks funds for Pacific health care improvement
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Posted on Oct 01 1999
Health Secretary Joseph Kevin Villagomez, newly-elected president of Pacific Islands Health Officers Association, said yesterday he will seek more funding from federal government and international organizations to help Pacific island governments in their efforts to improve the delivery of health care in their communities.
Villagomez said that if the health care systems on other island nations improve, it would help prevent the migration of people from the Federated States of Micronesia to the CNMI.
“It will be a problem if they come over here because they would eat up a portion of the taxpayers’ money. We need to build federal relations where they can improve their health care systems,” said Villagomez, whose father, Dr. Jose T. Villagomez, was the association’s first president in 1986.
The CNMI and Guam health care systems are far more advanced compared to other Pacific Island nations. Equality in the availability of health care in Micronesia is one of the goals of the association.
Villagomez said he will also make sure that the funding that will be received by the island nations are used for health care.
Villagomez said during a recent meeting in Pohnpei, Pacific islands’ health officials have identified some $500,000 in federal funding alone.
PIHOA is composed of health department heads of the Federated States of Micronesia, Marshalls, Palau, Guam, American Samoa and the CNMI.
PIHOA serves as a unifying voice and authority on issues of regional significance that is attained through collaborative and cooperative efforts in capacity building, advocacy and policy development to provide medical care, promote healthy lifestyles, prevent disease and injury and protect the environment.
