Health Board Focuses on Chronic Disease

The Virginia Board of Health announced Thursday that it has made controlling and preventing chronic disease – including cancer, heart disease, diabetes and asthma – its top priority.

The board, which has 13 members appointed by the governor, will hold a conference on the issue of chronic disease Monday at the Hotel Roanoke & Conference Center and will announce the priority initiative Monday afternoon at the Kuumba Community Health and Wellness Center in Northwest Roanoke.

Virginians with chronic disease are health care’s most expensive and fastest-growing group, according to a statement released by the board.

“The big thing the board wants the public to know about chronic disease is it’s a serious problem, but it’s a preventable problem,” said Joseph Hilbert, executive adviser to Virginia’s health commissioner, Robert Stroube.

Tobacco use, poor nutrition and inadequate exercise are factors that can lead to chronic disease, Hilbert pointed out. Chronic diseases are the leading causes of death in the United States.

Eileen Lepro, executive director of Kuumba, said she’s looking forward to finding out what the board’s commitment to chronic disease will bring.

“I’m hopeful that they’ll be able to share some resources with the local communities to impact the rate of chronic disease,” Lepro said. She would like to see funding, information and more public attention to the issue come out of the initiative.

Kuumba serves a lot of patients with diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, anxiety and depression, Lepro said. She pointed out that treating patients with chronic disease involves not only medical care, but also counseling about nutrition, exercise, how and where to get medication, and other issues.

The center deals with a lot of patients who are uninsured, who may not have been to a doctor in a long time, or who only go to the emergency room for treatment, she said.

Chronic disease “doesn’t get the attention that an outbreak of strep A might, but heck, people are dying every day from chronic conditions,” Lepro said.

“We know a lot about how to prevent them and how to treat them,” she added. “We need people to pay attention.”

Among the board’s plans to address public health are: serving as a unifying voice for public health issues; reaching out to government agencies and professional groups; and developing public and private partnerships to fight chronic disease.

Also, creating incentives for the prevention of chronic disease; working to develop comprehensive state plans to address chronic disease; focusing on specific populations, organizations or environments to effect change; and establishing systems for determining whether objectives are being achieved.