poor jco of managing hypertension.

inservice @uucac.cn for health workers

as well as community education and screening programs would appear to be

high priority items.
The final

chronic

disease of

increasing

significance

is

diabetes.

Though incidence figures are difficult to ascertain, anecdotal] reports show
it to be of real concern among both the health workers and the community.
"Insulin clinics" operate on both Ebeye and Majuro where diabetics come
daily for their injections.
the outer
closed

islands,

because

of

These also operate intermittently on some of

but evidently all
insufficient

of these clinics

supplies

of

one

are periodically

kind

or

another.

Fortunately, most patients must not be ketogenic, as they tolerate this
intermittent schedule surprisingly well.
insulin

allergy/resistance

must

be

The impact on the development of

considerable

approach to diabetic care must be developed.

and

a

more

rational

Oral agents, e.g. Diabenese,

are widely used for obvious reasons, and education regarding proper dietary
patterns and urine checking are not adequately promoted.
Recommendations
1.

Develop cancer, hypertension and diabetes educational materials within
the health education unit and promote these among both health workers
and the general population.

2.

Develop

specific

screening

protocols

for

selected

cancers,

hypertension and diabetes that will be taught to the medex (medical
assistants) and health assistants through inservice education and then
be integrated into the primary health care system.
3.

Identify a referral system for persons with selected types of cancer
and communicate this to be primary care workers.

4,

Develop treatment protocols for hypertension and diabetes, along with
appropriate equipment and supplies, for the outer island clinics.

5.

Start a research project to adequately ascertain the true relevance of
the disease and its etiology (which seems to differ here from other
high

diabetes

populations).

A

cost

estimate

epidemiological study is included in Appendix L.

for

such

an

Select target paragraph3