Diabetes Education Team, Fall 2016
The International Diabetes Federation has ranked the Federated States of Micronesia as the country with the highest rates of Type II Diabetes in the world — a staggering 37.2% of the population. Because of this epidemic, the FSM President has declared a state of emergency for the nation, regarding this a non-communicable disease (NCD) epidemic.
MAHI International is dedicated to help the FSM tackle this problem by finding ways to educate and train local healthcare personnel and community members. This will save thousands of lives. From September 23 to October 3, we hosted a team of diabetes specialists to train the local diabetes staff with best healthcare practices in treating and preventing diabetes. The team consisted of Dr. Arakawa (endocrinologist), Betty Jo Wresch (diabetes educator), and Tina Heinrich (physician assistant).
During the week, this team held workshops for the NCD staff and diabetes team from the Public Health Department. They also offered a continuing education class for the staff at the hospital focusing on treatment of Type II Diabetes. There were additional training sessions performed for the nursing students at the College of Micronesia and for several high schools. The team was also able to hold a diabetes clinic in Madolenihmw and in Kolonia. A healthy active lifestyle was the primary focus to combat the non-communicable diseases that are plaguing the FSM.
