Republic of Palau (BELAU) PIHOA Presentation

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Republic of Palau (BELAU) PIHOA Presentation

• Gregorio Ngirmang, Minister of Health of the
  Republic of Palau

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Ministrys Vision

• INTRODUCTION
• The Ministry of Health is committed to healthy
  communities with access to high quality
  healthcare services. The efforts undertaken by
  the Ministry and its staff focused on providing
  comprehensive accessible healthcare services for
  our patients and community.

AUTHORITY Two parts of the Constitution of the
Republic of Palau address the governments
responsibility for health care services. The 23rd
Amendment to Article VI requires positive
government action to promote health and social
welfare of the citizens through the provision of
free or subsidized health care and the 24th
Amendment requires provisions of free preventive
health care for every citizen as prescribed by
law. The Ministry of Health is responsible for
implementing action to meet these governmental
mandates. According to PNC Title 2, Section 107,
The Ministry of Health shall be responsible for
promoting and protecting the public health,
providing clinical medical services to the
public, operating and managing public medical
facilities, and related matters.
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Health of the Nation

• The Health of the Nation is at a critical
  crossroad. There has been a dire
• increase in Non-Communicable Diseases and risk
  factors such as cancer, heart disease, obesity,
  diabetes and high blood pressure rates. This has
  resulted in more people suffering from chronic
  conditions, and has led to the unfortunate and
  unnecessary loss of life and suffering of
  families.
• Palau is one of the few countries that have
  universal healthcare coverage that is made
  affordable through government subsidies, the new
  National Health Insurance scheme or provided free
  through our federally funded Public Health
  Programs.
• However, the increasing medical cost to treat
  patients with NCD is of serious concern to the
  government. Financially, NCDs account for 65 of
  hospital costs and almost ninety percent of our
  medical referral costs. Even more alarming is the
  threat to future generations of Palauans, our
  children. Current data indicate that 33 percent
  of school children are either overweight or
  obese. If this trend continues, healthcare costs
  will not only be unsustainable, the human cost
  would be unimaginable

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NCD Challenge

• Although the Ministry of Health is mandated by
  the Constitution with the responsibility of
  promoting and protecting the health of the
  nation, we cannot do this alone. The average
  total expenditure for health is roughly 9 of
  GDP, which ranks Palau as number 18th in world.
  Yet despite, our high ranking, Palauans have some
  of the worst rates of obesity, diabetes,
  hypertension, alcohol and tobacco use in the
  world.
• We know from our experience that funding alone
  will not solve the issue. We may have the best
  doctors, nurses, and best hospital, but unless we
  make the changes we need to make in our laws, our
  churches, our schools, and our homes, our efforts
  will prove fruitless. Yet, there are some
  positive cost effective examples of our how
  collaboration with our policy makers and
  community can make a difference in our effort to
  reduce NCDs.

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National Policy Change
In an effort to reduce Palaus high mortality
rates due to NCDs, we are focusing our resources
and coordinating our efforts through the Office
of the President, the Olbiil Era Kelulau (OEK)
and relevant Ministries to combat this threat to
the health of our nation Recent legislation
passed by the OEK and signed into law by the
President in 2014 raised taxes on all tobacco
products and helped discourage our unhealthy
addiction to tobacco Furthermore, the President
issued Executive Order 372, an initiative to
promote health for Palaus youth, mandating the
Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health
to work together to promote physical activity,
health education, and good nutrition in our
schools and our community. This Year, the
Ministry announced that the Belau National
Hospital and all the Ministrys agencies will be
completely Tobacco and Betel Nut Free for all
staff, patients and the general public. The
Ministry will work with Office of the President
to make all Government Ministries, agencies and
programs to be Tobacco and Chew Free
Zones Health and Education have spearheaded
efforts to make the following changes in
schools Change Lunch Program to include more
vegetables, fruits, less salt and serve only
water Increase Physical Education and Classes on
Health Promotion Sugar and Salt Free Zones
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International Partners/Institutions

• USA
• University of Arizona Professor Andrew Weil,
  Integrated Medicine Program/Residency Program
• University of Northern Arizona Behavior and
  Nutrition
• Roanoke College Anthropology/Palauan Culture and
  Diet
• University of California, San Francesco
  Professor William Byerly, Study of Genetics of
  Schizophrenia in Palauan Population
• Oklahoma State University Masters and Bachelors
  Degree Program in Prevention Services
• University of Maine at Fort Kent Online Nursing
  Degree BSN Program
• Republic of China, Taiwan
• Shin Kong Hospital, Taiwan, Republic of China
  Nutrition and Impact on Performance/Medical
  Referral Program
• Show Chwan Hospital Medical Cloud
  System/Community Health
• Taiwan Adventist Hospital Medical
  Referral/Evacuation
• I-Shou University Four Year Medical School in
  English
• Fiji
• Fiji National University (FNU) Degree
  Programs/Online and Distance Learning

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• Philippines
• Cebu Doctors University Philippines Degree
  Program in Medicine, Nursing, Ancillary Services
• The Medical City (TMC) Medical Referral /Medical
  Exchange
• Global City St. Luke Medical Referral/Medical
  Exchange
• Japan
• Kanazawa Medical UniversityMedical Exchange
  Radiology Program
• Osaka UniversityPublic Health and NCDs
• Nagoya University Public Health Study on NCDs
• Cuba
• Elam University in Cuba Medical School
• India
• Fortis Hospitals Medical Referrral/Medical
  Exchange

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Medical School in Cuba

• Cuban Government Offers three (3) Scholarships
  to Palau every year to attend the Latin American
  School of Medicine to pursue a degree in Medicine
  (7 years total)
• Palau began sending students in 2011 with 13
  students enrolled so far
• Classes entirely in Spanish with no preliminary
  evaluation
• Afterward they complete their final year students
  will be integrated into a special program in
  preparation for the United States Medical
  Licensing Exams (USMLEs)
• During the program they will be relocated to the
  Higher Institute of Medical Sciences in Havana,
  the Faculty Salvador Allende which is accredited
  by the World Health Organizations and the
  California Medical School Board.
• ELAM (Latin American School of Medicine) was
  established in 1999
• Enrollment with approximately 19,550 students
  from 110 countries with international students
  from Latin America, Caribbean, Africa and Asia.

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Commitment to Health

• This Ministry has a vision of healthy communities
  with access to comprehensive health care
  services. We must commit to change, to a greater
  focus on holistic care, to a strengthening of our
  systems, and to better integration of services,
  as well as continue developing respectful and
  effective partnerships with our staff, patients,
  community, and other partners so that all of us
  have the support and care we need for a healthy
  life.

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• MESULANG
• Thank you
• QUESTIONS