Brief Chat
Dr . Ann Pobutsky , Guam ’ s territorial epidemiologist , is in the virtual spotlight every Thursday , providing updates on the Covid-19 situation on island during the Department of Public Health and Social Services ’ weekly briefings .
Flashed on the screen are tables , charts and graphs , which Pobutsky interprets for the media and other Zoom viewers . People watch and listen , with heightened interest and occasional skepticism . Pobutsky ’ s job involves analyzing data , presenting processed information and fighting misinformation .
The numbers and the pattern of lines showing their crests and troughs shape the government ’ s pandemic-related mandates and determine the size of our social gatherings . We now understand that these infographics , which are otherwise obscure to most of us , determine how we must live in the time of coronavirus .
Nearly two years since Covid-19 became the staple of news , the study of virus transmission has loomed large in our struggle to understand and subdue this invisible enemy .
“ Examining the patterns of diseases is interesting because data or disease statistics constitute evidence of where problems are , and point to where public health needs to do interventions ,” said Pobutsky , who has been investigating sick populations for decades .
Pobutsky obtained her PhD in medical sociology and social epidemiology from the University of Hawaii and has served different roles in the public health field over the years . She is now Guam ’ s sole territorial epidemiologist , a role has brought with it the most challenging chapter of her career , she said .
Pobutsky returned to Guam in November 2018 after working at the Hawaii State Department of Health for 14 years .
While she wasn ’ t born on Guam , she has spent many years on the island . She first came back in 1979 with her then-husband who was in the U . S . Air Force .
From then on , her path to becoming the island ’ s only territorial epidemiologist was something she said she evolved into .
In the 1980s , Pobutsky worked on population-based health surveys on Guam . In the mid-1980s the first telephone survey was done on Guam for risk factors associated with HIV / AIDS , a survey which Pobutsky said has since morphed into the CDC ’ s Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System .
In the late-1980s , she worked on a survey focused on Guam residents and the prevalence of Lytico and Bodig diseases , or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis ( ALS , also known as Lou Gehrig ’ s Disease ) and Parkinson ’ s disease dementia .
Her work eventually carried her across the Pacific Ocean to Hawaii , where she was posted with the state ’ s health department as an epidemiologist . She worked on cancer prevention and control , tobacco , diabetes , heart disease , and health disparities among Hawaii residents .
“ I also did work with communicable disease programs , such as TB / Hansen ’ s , related to the Filipino and Micronesian migrant populations in Hawaii , as well as maternal and child health ,” Pobutsky said .
Nowadays , her days on the job involve examining morbidity case reports
Dr . Ann Pobutsky Guam ’ s territorial epidemiologist
Behind the
Data
By Jasmine Stole Weiss
We now understand that these infographics , which are otherwise obscure to most of us , determine how we must live in the time of coronavirus .
from clinics and hospitals regularly . She summarizes the data patterns and reports on them .
Over the years , Pobutsky monitored the SARS outbreak and MERS outbreaks . She said she knew it was possible that in her lifetime she ’ d be working as an epidemiologist during a global pandemic , “ particularly , since there is plenty of evidence of emerging infectious diseases , even prior to SARS-CoV-2 / Covid-19 .”
“ In addition , we know that global warming is already having an impact of human health via heat-related disease , changes in vector ecology , increasing allergens , environmental degradation and water quality issues , to name a few ,” she added .
Prior to Covid-19 , Pobutsky said Guam has had to address outbreaks of Shigella , and dengue fever .
The job generally brings challenges because public health has been underfunded for decades . “ One of the biggest challenges throughout the U . S . for public health in the past 40 years has been underfunding by both local and federal governments ,” she said . “ Although this has changed recently with a huge influx of federal monies for Covid-19 response .”
With a lack of funding comes a lack of personnel . Pobutsky said Guam should ideally have more than one epidemiologist . “ An epidemiologist ’ s role is to track the incidence , and / or prevalence of diseases that affect populations , and examine the patterns and causes of such communicable and non-communicable diseases ,” she said .
During the past year , Covid-19 data revealed a segment of the community that needed public health intervention , she said . “ We can see from the data that Micronesians are disproportionately affected by Covid-19 mortality , compared to what we would expect , based on their numbers in the Guam population .”
The result was the rollout of doorto-door Covid-19 testing and a simultaneous awareness campaign targeting the Micronesian communities on the island . When vaccines became available , officials worked to bring the shots to Micronesian residents , too .
“ Public health is community health ,” Pobutsky said . “ People on Guam have a great sense of community and pulling together . During this pandemic , the reasons for wearing masks , social distancing and limiting social gatherings , and getting vaccinated are to protect all of us , the entire community .”
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