The House of Representatives has passed legislation that allows a Commonwealth Health Care Corp. program to draw funds from the Tobacco Control Fund.<\/p>\n
In a session Tuesday afternoon on Capital Hill, the House passed unanimously Sen. Justo Quitugua\u2019s (R-Saipan) Senate Bill 21-2, which seeks to allow the CHCC\u2019s Diabetes Care and Control Center to receive funds from the Tobacco Control Fund.<\/p>\n
According to Public Law 13-38, only the \u201cDepartment of Public Health\u201d is eligible to draw from the fund. The Department of Public Health was later renamed to what is now known as CHCC.<\/p>\n
The bill corrects this, while making program activities of the Diabetes Care and Control Center eligible to obtain funding.<\/p>\n
According to P.L. 13-38, the fund can be used to support prenatal and maternal care, given that pertinent programs incorporated smoking cessation assistance and guidance on possible effects on fetal development; for comprehensive school health education programs; or for workplace-based community smoking prevention and cessation programs.<\/p>\n
CHCC chief executive officer Esther Muna noted that this is proper, especially since smokers have a 30% to 40% higher risk for Type 2 diabetes compared to nonsmokers.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople who have diabetes are significantly affected by smoking habits as well. High levels of nicotine from smoking can impede the efficacy of insulin, so those with diabetes [and] smoke need larger doses of insulin to control their blood sugar,\u201d she wrote in support of the legislation.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2026Strategies to reduce tobacco use, such as the tobacco control tax, is an important strategy to reduce Type 2 diabetes in the CNMI. Likewise, when patients with diabetes are able to quit smoking, their condition can become easier to manage,\u201d she added. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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