Health gatherings
set this weekend

Free screenings for blood pressure and
cholesterol will be available downtown

Three major health events are planned this week, including a Community Health Fair titled "State of Your Health" from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. tomorrow on the State Art Museum's front lawn, Richards and Hotel streets.

Also scheduled are:

» A "State of Our Health" leadership forum on health care quality measurements and improvements from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. tomorrow at the Sheraton Waikiki Hotel.

» A conference on "Health Care in Hawaii: The Price of Progress" Friday and Saturday at the Sheraton-Waikiki. Key speaker will be Dr. Kenneth W. Kizer, president and chief executive officer of the Washington, D.C.-based National Quality Forum.

Free cholesterol, blood pressure and glucose screenings and mental health assessments will be provided at the health fair and educational information will be available on asthma, behavioral health, diabetes, heart disease, smoking cessation, diet and exercise, senior health and Medicare.

Free pedometers will be distributed while supplies last.

People will be encouraged to visit the art museum and interactive health exhibits, games, prizes and giveaways will be offered to encourage lifestyle changes for better health.

Health professionals will review the results with participants and they will receive blood pressure, cholesterol and glucose tracking cards to take to their physicians.

State Health Director Chiyome Fukino said she asked for the "State of Your Health" consumer event to increase public awareness while national and local leaders are discussing health system improvements.

"Critical to tipping the momentum toward valid change is the involvement of informed public and private sectors," Fukino said.

The state Health Department, AstraZeneca (pharmaceutical firm) and Hawaii Medical Service Association are sponsoring the fair with the American diabetes, lung and heart associations, the Mental Health Association of Hawaii, state Agriculture Department, Executive Office on Aging and Tobacco Coalition.

The leadership forum, from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., is closed to the public. Participants will visit the fair after the sessions, Fukino said.

Key speakers at the forum will be Richard Sorian, vice president for public policy, National Committee for Quality Assurance, and Dr. Devon Herrick, senior fellow, National Center for Policy Analysis.

The latest data will be presented from the National Committee for Quality Assurance on quality of care delivered by Hawaii's health plans and how they compare with regional and national averages.

More than 500 national and local health, business and government leaders are expected to attend the conference Friday and Saturday.

They will discuss federal perspectives on Medicare, promoting access to affordable quality health care, rural health care concerns, the role of physicians in shaping health policy, the hospital crisis and public health prevention strategies.

Gov. Linda Lingle will be among speakers kicking off the conference from 8 to 10 a.m. Friday with the topic, "Advancing Health System Change: "The Will and the Way."

Among speakers will be: James C. Robinson of the University of California, Berkeley, School of Public Health, discussing, "Managed Consumerism in Health Insurance," and Devon Herrick of the National Center for Policy Analysis, "Promoting Access to Affordable Quality Health Care -- Models for Reform."

John Clymer, president of Partnership for Prevention, Washington, D.C., will lead a panel Saturday on "Prevention Strategies That Work: Leading by Example."

Sessions will be held on topics ranging from diet and cancer and professional liability and tort reform to the psychology of terror and the ethics of end of life care.

Other issues will include Hawaii's growing aging population, long-term care needs, the health effects of genetically modified organisms, national efforts to prevent agro-terrorism and the state of hazard preparedness in Hawaii.

The conference is sponsored by the Department of Health and the Hawaii Consortium for Continuing Medical Education, which has designated the event for credits for physicians.

For more information, call Conference Coordinator Lee-Ann Choy at 864-9812 or e-mail prc@hawaii.rr.com.