A U.S. Department of Health and Human Service (USDHSS) official has told a meeting of federal and territorial leaders that they are prepared to help the insular areas build their healthcare work force.

USDHSS director of Global Health Affairs at the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Kerry Nessler was speaking at last week’s meeting of the federal Interagency Group on Insular Areas (IGIA) and was a presenter on the Workforce Development panel discussion.

Nessler first explained that HRSA is the primary agency for improving access to health care by strengthening the workforce, building healthy communities and achieving health equality. Additionally, the agency’s programs provide health care to people who are geographically isolated, economically or medically vulnerable — that includes the insular areas.

HRSA also supports the training of health professionals, the distribution of providers to areas where they are most needed and where improvement in healthcare delivery can have the most impact, she said.

Nessler, a nurse by training, acknowledged that the insular areas have unique origins, cultures, histories, languages and geographic isolation.

“Health status of the islanders”, she said, “naturally varies within” each jurisdiction, but “in general, almost all the health indicators for islanders are worse than for the U.S. mainland.”

In many cases, this situation exists because of “significant social change brought about by population growth, economic development and a shift away from life-based on communal farming and fishing to one that is marked by consumer-orientation”, she said.

“In recent years, illness and death due to chronic disease in the insular areas have dramatically increased, she said and noted “80% of chronic disease deaths occur in. poor countries.”

“The burden of chronic disease is substantial in the insular areas,” she declared, and also said that lung and oral cancer ranks high in all of the cancers and are often found in far advanced stages due to lack of access or availability of preventive screening.

She then asked, “How do we move with the Affordable Care Act? How do we move from coverage to care? How do we move from your insurance card, Medicaid, Medicare to access to care? How do you begin to prevent and treat these illnesses?”

“One main key feature — in addition to strengthening our primary health care systems, is a robust professional health care workforce,” she said and acknowledged that there are many challenges to developing an effective workforce.

Among those challenges she cited are qualified candidates to attend health professional training; having adequate science, technology, engineer and match (STEM); and lack of access and accreditation training.

She said HRSA currently has a National Health Service program that provides loans and scholarship to providers - doctors, nurses, dentists, and midwives, to go out to the Pacific islands to work there.

In American Samoa there are three including two doctors; while there are 14 health care providers working at the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, she said.

“We hope to help you build your healthcare workforce,” she said and noted that while it takes time to accomplish such goals, “but we’re here to help you.”