Diabetes coalition seeks biz community’s support

The Commonwealth Diabetes Coalition is calling on the business community to support its membership and sponsorship drives for several upcoming Diabetes Control programs.

Department of Public Health Diabetes Prevention and Control Program manager Tanya Belyeu-Camacho said yesterday that the coalition is looking for corporate assistance to better execute the group’s mission—to promote awareness and prevent the spread of diabetes in the CNMI.

Belyeu-Camacho said the coalition has been very active in partnering with local groups, organizations, and companies for its diabetes prevention campaign.

The coalition, in collaboration with the NMC-CREES, DPH, and Ayuda Network, has several programs lined up next year such as the Corporate Wellness Program and Childhood Obesity.

Ayuda Network representative Diane Camacho, NMC-CREES and CDC members Polly Omechelang and Nadine Aguon, DPH DPC’s Ling Rabauliman and DPH deputy secretary Lynn Tenorio attended the event yesterday.

The attendees also witnessed a presentation conducted by DPH Physical Therapy Department led by Pam Carhill and Dana McFadden. The two are behind the Foot Clinic that has been serving the CNMI community at the Commonwealth Health Center since early this year.

Belyeu-Camacho said the presentation was a way to present the data and report back to the community the successes related to the DPH program for Diabetes Control and Prevention.

Carhill and McFadden said there have only been six cases of major amputations at the CHC this year, translating to an 80-percent reduction in the number of major limb amputations in the CNMI. Both said the decline came about after the department started its foot care prevention program for diabetics this year.

Public Health saw a 50-percent reduction in the CNMI’s amputation rate within the first year of implementing the foot care program, “meaning we are getting to people sooner and preventing foot complications early on through education, instruction in self inspection and simple foot care,” said McFadden.

In 2004, there were 31 major lower extremity amputations below the knee or above the knee; over the same period, the number of patients being treated in the PT Department at CHC quadrupled.

The CHC Foot Clinic, which started operating on Jan. 4, 2006, is open every Wednesday from 9am to 11am only. McFadden said both referred and walk-in patients are welcome, especially those diabetics with or without callous, wounds, or sensation changes.

The clinic, though, does not cater to non-diabetic patients. McFadden said the clinic accommodates at least five to 10 patients per week.