Children’s Mental health Awareness DayLong Island Park, May 8th 2015

For the past years, the Ministry of Health have offered young children, youth, and young adults with mental health and substance use challenges in the Republic of Palau, the services and supports they need to meet their goals at home, at school, and in the community. The Behavioral Health Division and the Palau Behavioral Health Advisory Council, led the 2nd National Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day at the Carnival to highlight the importance of positive mental health. This year’s focus is on “Building Resil-ience and Positive Support”. It was a whole day of activities which kicked off with a Ribbon Cutting led by Honorable Minister Gregorio Ngirmang.

MINISTRY OF HEALTH

palauhealth.org volume I, issue IV May 2015

page 4 MOH pulse May 2015

RN Louisa Benaya completes Post-Grad Diploma at FNU

Congratulations are extended from all at MoH to RN Louisa Benaya for successful completion of her Post-Graduate Diploma in Nursing Practice as a Nurse Practitioner at Fiji National University in Suva. Ms Benaya is pictured here at

National Strategic Action Plan Launched To Combat NCD.

her graduation ceremony in Fiji last month. She has since returned to Palau and is now on roster at the OB/Gyn ward at the Belau National Hospital. Director of Bureau of Nursing, Jenny Anastasi, explains that the Nurse Practitioner role is critical in the way forward for improving the effectiveness of primary health care and health services, and the prevention of the complications of non-commu-nicable diseases in Palau. With specialized clinical training Nurse Practitioners help to expand the reach of nursing service levels at the inpatient, outpatient and community level. NP services help improve access to health services, reduce wait times and alleviate pressures on the. . . continued pg.2

New ER waiting room benches being recieved from PHS carpentry shop supervisor

The ER waiting room was recently re-furnished with four brand new benches. When asked about these new benches Antonnete Merur said “sometime last year I took photos of OPD and ER chairs and made comparisons ...the upstate and the ghetto” referring to the new ones at the OPD and the torn up old ones at the ER. Antonnette shared these images with her friends in a Palauan Community Group in Texas who, upon seeing the old and torn up ER waiting room chairs, decided to do some fundraising to help raise some money for replacing the worn chairs in the ER. The group “Palauans in Central Texas” orga-

nized a concert event in January of 2015 and raised the funds to be given to the MOH for these chairs and in March of 2015 a representative of the group Palauans in Central Texas, by the name of Mistica Malsol Giltug came from texas to personally hand over a check to the Palau Nurses Association with instruc-tion to purchase brand new seats for the ER waiting room. In support to our public school systems, the check was then brought over to the Palau High School Carpentry Shop and an order was placed for four brand new benches to be placed in our Hospital ER waiting room. A special thanks is offered to the group “Palau-ans in Central Texas” for your generous donation and support; with special thanks to the Palau High School Carpentry Shop and their students for a fantastic Job with these gorgeous benches.

ER refurnished by Palauans In Central Texas.

As non-communicable diseases (NCDs) as a major health crisis continue to affect thousands of people in the Pacific region, Palau has launched its NCD Prevention and Control Strategic Plan of Action for 2015 to 2020. After months of collaboration and planning, the Ministry of Health along with its many partners and stakeholders launched the plan in unison with the signing of Executive Order 379 by Presi-dent Tommy Remengesau Jr., creating a National Coordinating Mechanism (CM) to implement the plan. The NCD Strategic Plan will serve as a national guide for all efforts devised to combat and contain the threat of NCDs. The plan lays out a framework that aims to reduce the burden of NCDs in Palau by focusing on five areas that include reducing tobacco consumption; reducing the harmful use of alcohol; reducing physical inactivity; improving nutritional intake; and reducing the prevalence . . . continued pg.4

Action Plan to Combat NCD’s. . .Continued from pg. 1

... of metabolic risk factors that lead to NCD’s. The Plan also looks at evidence based interventions and strategies that have been proven to work in addressing issues related and lead to NCDs. The National CM created by Executive Order 379 will be comprised of various governmental and community based orga-nizations, which are tasked to collaborate to implement the strategies laid out in the plan. For more information about the Palau NCD Prevention and Control Plan or more information about how to avoid NCDs, contact the Non-Communicable Disease Unit at 488-4612. Rubekul Belau, Mechesil Belau, and Community Partners pose for group photo

page 2 MOH pulse May 2015 page 3 MOH pulse May 2015

Greg Ngirmang, the Minister of Health recently attended 11th Pacific Health Ministers Meeting in Fiji. The purpose of the meet-ing was to bring together the health leaders in the Pacific to discuss national, regional and global health initiatives and priori-ties. The first meeting took place in Yanuca, Fiji on March 1995 where the ministers adopted the vision of ‘Healthy Islands” as the unifying theme for health in the region. The event has come full circle, as decades later; Fiji again hosted the event commemorat-ing 20 years of the Yanuca Declaration: “Healthy Islands”. This year, the heads of health in the region reaffirmed the “Healthy Islands” vision by reviewing, discussing, making recommenda-tions and implementing programs which focus on the following areas: • Children who are nurtured in body and mind• Environment invite learning and leisure• People work and age with dignity• Ecological balance is a source of pride• The ocean which sustains us is protected The “Health Islands” vision provides a common rallying point, which centers on the family and community values, the founda-tion of the Pacific culture, a strength that should be further nurtured and affirmed. “The Healthy Islands vision continues to be a beautiful and pure expression of where we need to be heading. These meetings have become a golden opportunity to collaborate in charting the course of health and development for the next generation. Working together, we can make the Healthy Islands vision a reality for our children.” remarked WHO’s Regional Director for the Western Pacific Region, Dr Shin Young-soo. Gregorio Ngirmang, Minister of Health stated: “The event was a great success, as it gave Palau the opportunity collaborate with the leaders of health in the region, learn from one another’s successes, and share information and resources about improving health indicators both at home and globally.”

Ngirmang added: “I would like to thank the Government and the Ministry of Health of Fiji for hosting the event and the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) and Dr. Shin Young-soo, the Regional Director for WHO Western Pacific Region for their support for health for the people of Palau and the Pacific.” The Eleventh Pacific Health Ministers meeting was held from 15-17 April, 2015. After the first meeting, nine subsequent bienni-al meetings of Ministers of Health for the Pacific Island Coun-tries were convened. The last two meeting in Honiara and Apia have seen a remarkable shift in agenda planning, responding to suggestions that the process be more participatory and the host government lead the process.

Minister of Health Attends 11th Pacific Health Ministers Meeting in Fiji

pulseMOH Pulse is published monthly by the

Community Advocacy Program through funding support by the US Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC).

For more information or comments regarding articles, email to news@palauhealth.org or visit our website at www.palauhealth.org. Also, like us on facebook at www.facebook.com/MOHPalau.

ROC Ambassador Tseng, Minister of Health Ngirmang, Minister of Education Soalablai together inspected the Program at MES on April 28, 2015.

The Drug & Therapeutic Committee workshop

Shin Kong Hospital is expanding their healthcare service from acute phase to preventive approach. The Program which aims to stop students from becoming obese is now launched in Meyuns Elementary School (MES) and it includes provision of vegetable to school lunch and special-designed healthy lectures given by two physician draftees to MES. “Stopping Non-Communicable Diseases has been our goal of current health policy and I am glad that we have the chance to make our own effort by working with Shin Kong Hospital on this Program,” noted Enitha Edwards, Principal of Meyuns Elemen-tary School. The Program is designed to establish healthy lifestyle since young age by having healthy diet and physical activities. Students are encouraged to eat more fruits and vegetables to achieve the recommended “5-a-day”, which means eating 5 servings of vege-tables and fruits everyday. They also keep a “food diary” to record the amount of vegetable they have everyday to raise their aware-ness to the food they are eating. Physical activities are also a crucial part of healthy lifestyle. According to recent report, children’s lifestyle is going sedentary. In MES, students already have plenty of choices to do sports. For the Program enrollees, they have an additional choice which is

These past two months, the Drug and Therapeutic Committee, chaired by Dr. Lala and vice-chaired by Dr. Angela Marcil, conduct-ed a two days workshop at the Penthouse hotel. At these meetings members of the committee including respected doctors, nurses and pharmacists interactively compiled a document called the Standard Treatment Guideline (STG). The final document, which will be a product of recommendations from evidence-based international treatment guidelines, will be used by physicians as a guide when treating patients. This is an important milestone for the Ministry of Health as it is the first meeting of its kind .The document will serve to inform or remind healthcare workers what has been made available based on local resources and what the protocol is. This will be used as a reference to prescribe patients with required medicines including controlled drugs such as Tylenol 3, Tramadol and other narcotic classified medications. The activities of the two days included presentations from doctors addressing common illnesses encountered by the ministry of health such as diabetes, hypertension, respiratory disorders in children, geriatric health, gout, marine injuries and emergencies, pain management, Tubercu-losis, osteo arthritis, ischaemic heart disease, aneamia, alcohol & drug withdrawal, peptic ulcer disease and tobacco cessation.The recommendations from this discussion will contribute to the revision of the 2006 “Belau National Hospital Formulary”, which is the essential medicines list that MOH makes available for the communities This is an initiative in process which will result in the revisions of existing formulary and the launching of the STG. This workshop is made possible through partnership between the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Family Health Unit(FHU) of the Ministry of Health.

jumping ropes, a high-intensity exercise that is good for maintain-ing both heart and lung function. This is a good way to spend energy while losing some weight to keep body in good condition. Except for healthy diet and physical activities, students have lectures on related topics to learn better concept. Lectures are designed based on the recommendation of Healthy Islander Program, and combined with Ministry of Education’s health program outline. On April 28th, Minister of Education, Hon. Sinton Soalablai, and Minister of Health, Hon. Greg Ngirmang, were accompa-nied by ROC Ambassador Harry H. J. Tseng to inspect

the implementation of the Program at MES. Both Ministers were encouraged and impressed by what they had seen. With collabo-rative efforts between MES and Shin Kong Hospital, along with support given by Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health, ROC Embassy and Taiwan Technical Mission, it is foreseeable that the Program will become a success.

...health-care system by providing patients with diagnosis and curative interventions, wellness strategies and early interventions. NPs provide client education, support health promotion, and involve patients and families in effective care decision-making within practice guidelines.Ms. Benaya describes her achievement as “The best thing I have ever done. It was challenging at the beginning. It required a lot of time management and commitment. . .Now it feels great. I feel it will help me to provide proper services to improve health outcomes for Palauans.” When asked about how she sees her future, Ms Benaya said “I am looking forward to fulfilling public healths role and make the best use of the new skills I have learned. But I still want to stay as a practicing midwife as well.”Ms Benaya expects to be a key player and work closely with nursing management and other Nurse Practitioners at the Ministry to develop scope of practice guidelines to ensure that all NPs in Palau are given opportunities to make best use of their skills and expertise to improve health of individuals and communities. All nursing colleagues at MoH congratulate our latest ‘champion’ and new Nurse Practitioner, Louisa Benaya.

RN Benaya continued from pg. 1

Meyuns Elementary School is Starting Health Program with Shin Kong Hospital

Participants of the Drug and Therapeutic Committee workshop, held at the Penthouse hotel.