NCDs top priority of new medical director

Dr. Dan Lamar, the newly appointed public health medical director, has made the prevention of non-communicable diseases his top priority at the hospital.

Describing the NCD rate in the Pacific region as a “pandemic,” he pointed out the need to restructure the Public Health Division to become more effective and efficient in addressing issues of non-communicable diseases. The division is now seeking federal grants to aid them in this mission, Lamar added.

NCDs are conditions that are not communicated through infection but generally come about due to lifestyles: how people eat, how active they are, and their habits in general. NCDs include diabetes, cancer, obesity, cardiovascular disease, stroke, gout, arthritis, and depression.

The prevalence of NCDs in the region prompted the Pacific Island Health Officers Association last year to declare a regional state of health emergency.

In the Commonwealth, Lamar emphasized the urgent need to adopt changes in people’s lifestyles to address the spread of these non-communicable diseases. The island culture and some traditional family practices are major factors in the increasing number of affected patients and a major reason for the high mortality rate on the islands.

NCDs, Lamar said, are also prime factors in the increasing number of dialysis patients. The CNMI currently has 150 documented dialysis patients being treated at the hospital and in a private dialysis facility.

Despite the increasing NCD rates, the good news is that “we can do something about it,” Lamar said.

He acknowledged the importance of seeking medical treatment for these diseases, but stressed the vital role of lifestyle adjustments and changes among families and communities. His next plan of action is to help the community adapt to these necessary changes.

“It is true that genetic components play a large role, but what’s also true is that lifestyle can override that. How you live is a much more important determinant in general. It’s really nurturing that we need to do,” he said.

The Department of Public Health earlier reported that 71 percent of adults in the Commonwealth Health Center have diabetes and two out of three medical referrals in the CNMI are for non-communicable diseases.

As medical director, Lamar succeeded Dr. Shirish Balachandra, whose contract was not renewed in January. Lamar has been working in CNMI since the early 1990s. He started at CHC and the Rota Health Center before joining the private medical sector on Saipan. He is a certified internal medicine physician and got his medical license in Oregon.