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By GIFF JOHNSON
The 177 Health Program for nuclear test affected islanders
received a one month reprieve from closing — but whether it
will remain open beyond January 31 is anyone’s guess.
Money is running out quickly for a program whose funding
officially expired on September 30 last year. Program
administrator Deborah Atwood told the Journal late last week
that there “is sufficient funding to operate through January
31.”
A meeting involving four atoll leaders and the ministers of
Health and Foreign Affairs is expected in the next few days
to make definite decisions about the future of the program —
whether to scale it back to limited services, close it or
other possible options.
Confusion has developed about the program’s future because
different officials are saying different things about the
future of the program.
At a meeting last week of four atoll leaders with President
Kessai Note and Foreign Minister Gerald Zackios — but not
177 Health Program administrators — a commitment by the RMI
political leadership was given to maintain the Majuro 177
clinic operations and services of the four Nepalese medical
doctors on the four outer islands through September 30.
But a meeting later in the same day with 177 Health Program
officials confronted four atoll leaders with the apparent
financial reality that there is not enough money to maintain
the program’s current services beyond January 31.
Atwood indicated that the program could continue the four
doctors on the outer islands with current funding but would
have to shut the Majuro clinic after January 31.
Bikini official Jack Niedenthal said closing of the Majuro
clinic would be “a big deal because it sees a lot of
patients here.” He also noted that the program that normally
operates on a $2 million annual budget, has just $300,000
for the remainder of the year.
The problem, said Niedenthal, is that “everyone is not on
the same page” and to date it’s been impossible to get all
the people in the same room to resolve issues about the
future of the program.
Atwood said she’s expecting “there will be a definitive
meeting in the next week or two. Based on our meeting on
December 30, Minister Zackios will be organizing the
meeting.”
She confirmed that if the program is to remain open through
September it will require an injection of funding from
either the RMI or the US governments.
“We’ve been operating on leftover money from last quarter,”
she said.
Atwood also noted that there are some efforts in the US
Congress to get legislation introduced this year to continue
US funding for the 177 Health Program. But even if approved,
that would not kick in until the next fiscal year that
starts on October 1, leaving funding for the next nine
months in question. |
