FSMIS (February 13, 2014): The Association of
Maternal and Child Health Program (AMCHP) works to improve the health of women,
children, youths and families at both the state and national levels. Every year,
AMCHP assembles partners and service providers for Maternal and Child Health
Program from across the Continental United States and its affiliated countries
in the Pacific Rim . This is a once-a-year
opportunity to come together and learn new skills, hear about new development
in our field of work, and gather tools and information that will benefit our
daily work in each of our respective country settings. With circumstances and issues
during this era of economic challenge and health system change, 2014 is a year
that can overwhelm and energize or incapacitate and motivate us in terms of
“budget cut and reform”.
This year, the
AMCHP annual conference co-located with the annual meetings for the National
Birth Defects Prevention Network (NBDPN), the Association of University Centers
on Disabilities (AUCD), the Leadership Education in Adolescent Health (LEAH),
and the Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities
Programs (LEND). Included in the activities of this conference, AMCHP offered both
professional coaching and job fair. These additional activities were made to
give members the opportunities to explore other career development
opportunities and a reflection on one’s career path and consider change one may
desire.
FSM participants at
this conference attended sessions that are relevant to their line of works,
seizing the opportunity to meet with pacific island participants, consultants
from National Safety Network and the Center for Disease Prevention and Control.
Almost all of the participants from the
Freely Associated States commonly shared that there is no clearly defined,
independent program specifically mandated for “child protection” in their
jurisdictions. They showed, however, that child protection activities are being
addressed and carried out under other related program such as MCH,
Immunization, CSHCN, and others. FSM participants also spoke on the same
challenging issues regarding child injury and safety.
A lunch meeting was
set up for the attending members of Region IX to meet with Dr. Micheal Lu,
Associate Director of Maternal and Child Health Bureau, to discuss details
regarding the “Affordable Care Act” and its consequences on the Freely Associated
States. In general, the Affordable Care Act
resulted in budget-cut to the overall MCH Block Grant. Given the deep
cuts, some grants have been created outside the MCH Block Grant to supplement
MCH programs and activities. However, the Freely Associated States are not eligible
for the use of these “new grants”. Dr. Lu spoke about the limitations and
constraints imposed upon the program. In this regard, he expressed his
commitment to work on ensuring that other funding grants can have some flexibility
to accommodate the needs of the MCH programs throughout the FAS to maintain
continuity of care.
The
conference took place on January 23 to 30, 2014 in Washington D.C.
Participants
from the FSM included Dr. Anamaria Akapito Yomai, Child Health Physician for
the FSM Department of Health and Social Affairs. Dr. Yomai is stationed at the
Chuuk Public Health, Chuuk State
Department of Health Services; Mr. Dionis Saimon, Chief of Family Health
Programs, based at the FSM Dept. of Health Office in Palikir; and Mr. Stanley
Mickey, assistant to Mr. Dionis and also the Family Planning Coordinator, based
at the FSM Dept. of Health Palikir Office.
For
inquiry, call the Department at 320-2619 or email desaimon@fsmhealth.fm or
ayomai@fsmhealth.fm.
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