Diabetes summit gathers Pacific health officials

For the next four days, health officials from across the Pacific region will be discussing diabetes at the first regional diabetes summit.

The summit, which had its first day yesterday at Saipan World Resort, is bringing together more than 130 health workers to discuss practices, share resources and plan for future preventative measures.

Representatives from the CNMI, American Samoa, Guam, Palau, Federated States of Micronesia and the Marshall Islands were in attendance yesterday.

“This is the first time we’ve all been in the same room speaking the same language,” said Public Health Secretary Joseph Kevin Villagomez.

The summit allows officials from the different islands to share information on successful methods and resources, Villagomez said.

“It’s letting them know this is where we’re at, and what resources we can assist them with,” he said.

Some of the islands don’t even have an ophthalmologist, and diabetes is found to be a leading cause for blindness, said Lynn Tenorio, Deputy Secretary for Public Health Administration.

“How do you prevent blindness if you don’t have an ophthalmologist?” she said.

Thirty percent of CNMI residents are afflicted with the illness, ranking the Commonwealth among the top five populations for the rate of diabetes, Tenorio said.

According to 2002 statistics, there were 3,019 known diabetes patients in the CNMI, with half being of Chamorro descent.

In the past, type II diabetes was seen in older patients, but now it is being seen in kids as young as 10 years old in the CNMI. In the Pacific region, kids as young as 6 years old are being diagnosed with the illness, Tenorio said.

The illness has forced the Commonwealth Health Center to install 18 additional dialysis units, bringing the total number to 30, Tenorio said.

The community needs to become involved in preventing diabetes, she said. One way is to promote local fruits and vegetables.

“[Kids] forget about the fruits our families grew up with,” she added.

The first half of the summit will be a period of information sharing between the different islands. During the second half of the summit, the jurisdictions will break into small groups and work to address their individual needs, Tenorio said.

Several organizations helped to fund the summit and pay for the travel costs of the attendees. The organizations include: Health and Human Service’s Office of Global Health Affairs; National Center for Minority Health and Health Disparities; Indian Health Services; and the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Office of Insular Affairs.