Healthcare corporation aims to jumpstart campaign vs NCDs

The Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. will put non-communicable diseases, or NCDs, among its top priorities that need to be addressed through effective campaigns to combat the problem.

In last week’s roundtable discussion with representatives of various groups and community organizations, Roxanne Diaz, director of Public Health Services, said she aims to create a CNMI NCD Alliance Group that will spearhead all efforts against non-communicable diseases.

With $150,000 in federal funding to combat NCDs in the Commonwealth, Diaz asked the help of community groups for the corporation to come up with proactive strategies and actions that will effectively work in both small and large villages on the three islands.

Speaking before 14 participants in the roundtable discussion, Diaz presented a work plan and budget on how the funding could support specific programs related to the prevention of non-communicable diseases.

It was agreed that the “alliance group” will conduct pocket meetings in villages to encourage greater participation from all sectors before a concrete plan of action is finalized.

The Pacific Islands Health Officers Association had declared a regional state of health emergency in the U.S.-affiliated Pacific Islands due to the epidemic of NCDs such as diabetes, cancer, obesity, cardiovascular disease, stroke, gout, arthritis, and depression.

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

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

The department said that from 1993 to 2005, the oral cancer rate among Chamorros on island increased by 27.9 percent. The increase was at a higher rate of 43.1 percent among Carolinians. This is due to tobacco chewing, which remains rampant among islanders.

Diaz described NCD problem as of “great magnitude” and urged group members to continue “make a noise” about this issue in “clearer and louder” forms. She also pointed out the need to have some form of “emergency declaration” that will aid in effective mobilization.

According to the roundtable participants, NCDs are the result of people’s poor education about health issues and people’s lack of accessibility to a healthy food supply. An example is a San Roque resident who has no other options where to buy foods other than the few stores located near his house. This lack of transportation in many areas on island helps contribute to the NCD problem, they said.