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* Only Sustainable Measures Are Helping COVID-19 Control4
http://www.hsvg.org/ Guahan Global Foundation
Guahan Global Foundation P.O. Box 206, Hagatna, GU 96932, USA
(October 16, 2026) Aware of it but no action on it To promote breast cancer awareness, prevention, and research in October, the American Cancer Society recently released the findings of its new survey, pointing out that significant gaps exist between awareness of modifiable breast cancer risk factors and taking positive action to lower risk.   After decades of campaigning breast cancer awareness in October, it is exciting that the survey found 99% of 32,775 survey respondents know that smoking raises cancer risk. 91% of them learn low physical activity levels raise risk. 89% of women know excess body weight increases risk. 85% of ladies know alcohol use is also going to raise risk.   The survey also looked into awareness of breast cancer risk and protective factors by race and ethnicity. Among Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders (AANHPI), 99% of women in this group know that smoking raises cancer risk. 92% of them learn low physical activity levels raise risk. 89% of them know excess body weight increases risk. The percentage of AANHPI women knowing alcohol use could raise risk is also 89%.   It is great to learn that the awareness levels of breast cancer risk factors among AANHPI ladies are as high as overall survey respondents.   However, while 91% of women surveyed know that low levels of physical activity increase cancer risk, only 27% of the same respondents meet the American Cancer Society’s recommendation of 150 to 300 minutes of moderate-intensity activity, or 75 to 150 minutes of vigorous-intensity activity, each week.   Alcohol use shows the second-widest gap in the survey, with 85% of women knowing alcohol raises cancer risk and 69% still report drinking to some extent.   In addition, 89% of women know excess body weight increases cancer risk, but only 47% meet the American Cancer Society’s recommendation of staying at a healthy body weight throughout your life. And, 99% of ladies know smoking raises risk, but 28% of them do not avoid smoking or quit.   The research of the survey did not further investigate the awareness-action gaps of each ethnicity group. Given that Guam’s adult obesity prevalence was getting higher in recent years, it is reasonable to infer that quite a number of people in our island community did not take action to really balance their food intake and physical activity even though the awareness of risk factors may be high.   When the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released 2023 Adult Obesity Prevalence Maps for 48 states, the District of Columbia, and 3 territories in September 2024, Guam’s adult obesity rate was above 35% for the first time. On the CDC’s 2024 maps released in December 2025, Guam’s adult obesity rate increased again and was surprisingly jumping to 40.2%. There were only 3 states or territories with 40% or higher adult obesity rates.   However, in addition to diet and exercise, body weight is affected by many other factors, including genetics, hormones, environment, medications, and stress. An individual’s willpower alone does not drive weight-loss outcomes. A supportive ecosystem is crucial and necessary.   So, our foundation wants to point out that the American Cancer Society actually emphasized their survey results highlight the importance of initiatives to expand access to “safe, walkable community” and “affordable, healthy food” to help people easily take action in their daily life to increase physical activity and eat healthy.   Regarding “safe, walkable community,” it means people are able to safely and comfortably walk around their neighborhood, instead of driving to certain places and then walking or running there. Obviously, the system on our island has to allocate lots of resources to improve certain infrastructure to reach this goal. In addition, at the same time, the issues of stray dogs must be addressed. Otherwise, many people will not feel safe walking around their village.   Our island community also needs to work harder to secure the stability of the shipment of fresh food from off-island as well as the supply of the locally produced food, helping people's access to “affordable, healthy food.” That is why our foundation appreciates the hard work of the Port Authority of Guam, the shipping companies, and all related parties. We also admire the continuous efforts made by many local farmers, experts, and organizations that try to strengthen our island’s food resiliency.   The American Cancer Society also mentioned in its report that the findings of the survey have implications for public health awareness efforts as well as conversations between healthcare providers and their patients.   For example, breastfeeding for women who have children and can breastfeed is the least-known protective factor in the survey. Only 55% of women know that breastfeeding for several months after childbirth may offer the added benefit of reducing breast cancer risk. Its awareness level is much lower than other factors’. The percentage of AANHPI women knowing this protective factor is also just 57%. Some improvement could be made through public health awareness efforts or conversations between healthcare providers and their patients.   It is also important that people pursuing a healthy body weight can learn the science behind weight management from professionals. Our foundation looks forward to more relevant conversations between healthcare providers and their patients to facilitate the learning and motivate patients to take action on obesity or other health issues.   Finally, we would like to stress once again that steady lifestyle changes are helping long-term well-being. Once you make a start, even small improvements can bring meaningful benefits. So, regarding prevention, please do take action to make some changes after you are aware of the risk factors. Let’s close the awareness-action gaps. (This op-ed article is Guahan Global Foundation's column published in the Guam Daily Post on October 16, 2026) http://www.hsvg.org/hot_540987.html * Aware of it but no action on it 2026-10-16 2027-10-16
Guahan Global Foundation P.O. Box 206, Hagatna, GU 96932, USA http://www.hsvg.org/hot_540987.html
Guahan Global Foundation P.O. Box 206, Hagatna, GU 96932, USA http://www.hsvg.org/hot_540987.html
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Home ﹥ News > News > * Only Sustainable Measures Are Helping COVID-19 Control

(July 10, 2020)

Only Sustainable Measures Are Helping COVID-19 Control



The whole world has surely noticed that China, Australia and the United States are having COVID-19 community spread again. While several places are locked down again, it is time that every government honestly informs people that we are inevitably going to live with the coronavirus for a while. Only sustainable measures, which is absolutely not another lockdown, can really help everybody get through it together.



After some restrictions were lifted in May or June, many people might think the coronavirus has gone and it’s not necessary any more to strictly practice social distancing, to wear a face covering in public and to wash hands that often. It is highly likely to be the reason why a number of places are having the second wave. Every government should learn the lesson and offer people proper information about the current status of the pandemic to at least have the majority of people keep practicing the precaution measures to maintain a flat, or downward, infection curve.



Taiwan, with more than 23 million citizens, has not reported any domestic COVID-19 cases since April 13. Even though, its nationwide health education system kept reminding people in the whole month of May to maintain social distancing, to wear a mask in public and to practice good personal hygiene. Taiwanese government is therefore confident to announce on June 17 that they will ease quarantine regulations exclusively for visitors from 11 low-risk countries and areas, including New Zealand, Australia, Macau, Palau, Fiji, Brunei, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Thailand, Mongolia and Bhutan.



Although there have been more than 350 import cases challenging Taiwan’s public health system since the country encountered the first one from China on January 21, Taiwanese government has never enforced any lockdown or stay-home orders. With no lockdown, as of July 9, only 55 domestic cases have been reported and 7 patients sadly died in Taiwan. Apparently, Taiwan has been showing the world a relevant example of the sustainable way that people can fearlessly live with the coronavirus in the long run.



A number of solid research findings have also offered evidence to prove there are effective protection measures helping people live with the coronavirus before vaccines are available. For example, a meta-analysis report published on June 1 in The Lancet showed 1-meter social distance significantly reduced the chance of human-to-human transmission to 2.6% from 12.8% with no social distancing intervention. Face masks also helped lower the chance from 17.4% to 3.1%. Eye protection decreased the chance to 5.5% from 16%. (Ref. 1)



An analysis published on June 11 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science analyzed data from three epicenters - Wuhan (China), Italy and New York City - and proved that mandated face covering “alone” significantly reduced the number of COVID -19 infections. The researchers concluded that wearing of face masks in public corresponds to the most effective means to prevent human-to-human transmission, and this inexpensive practice, in conjunction with simultaneous social distancing, quarantine, and contact tracing, represents the most likely fighting opportunity to stop the COVID-19 pandemic. (Ref.2)



There are, of course, studies showing lockdowns help as well. The journal Nature published two scientific articles on June 8, which support the effect of large-scale lockdowns. One of the researches examined data from 11 European countries and showed that lockdowns effectively slowed the pandemic and saved 3.1 million lives. (Ref. 3) (Ref. 4)



However, many people were probably willing to sacrifice their freedom and convenience for saving lives in March and April and hoping everything would be fine after the pandemic ended. In May, especially late May, "lockdown fatigue" has emerged. It seems less people are comfortable in June with the all-or-nothing nature of strict lockdowns because many people have started noticing the huge uncertainty for the future after three-month lockdowns.



In fact, at least two "excess deaths" analyses based on statistics of EuroMOMO, the European morality monitoring activity, have shown that the strictness of a country’s lockdown measures had little associations with its fatality of COVID-19. These analyses concluded that it’s better to respond quickly, with proper testing and tracing protocols, rather than replying on strict lockdowns. (Ref.5) (Ref.6)



The biggest myth about lockdown is to believe it is the only solution when the epidemic gets worse. In fact, lockdown is a measure to lock the seriously-affected area in order to protect people in other areas. When SARS hit Taiwan 17 years ago, the health authority there locked a hospital where a serious nosocomial infection occurred to protect the community outsides. When Wuhan became a miserable epicenter of China in January, Chinese government issued a lockdown order in Wuhan to avoid the coronavirus from further spreading to other cities and provinces.  



To live with the coronavirus, in addition to people’s good personal hygiene and social distancing practice, since COVID-19 is highly contagious and an increased testing capacity will definitely find more infections, government officials have to learn that the number of positive cases is not an optimal indicator to monitor pandemic control and hospitalization is. Singapore is the best example regarding this. As of July 9, this city state, with 6 million residents, has reported 45,423 positive cases through its aggressive testing protocol. But Singaporeans did not panic. They watched hospitalization rate carefully. Their well-prepared medical system has controlled the death toll as low as 26.



In addition, the public health system needs to offer extra care to the elderly, especially those who live in nursing homes, to avoid the mistakes many countries have made in the past several months, which caused a lot of deaths among the seniors. The system also needs to remind the other high-risk group - people with underlying medical conditions, such as hypertension, diabetes and lung disease - to try their best to get their chronic illness under control before the coronavirus hits our community again.




Ref. 1 The Lancet:
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)31142-9/fulltext

Ref. 2 Proceedings of the National Academy of Science:

https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2020/06/10/2009637117

Ref. 3 Nature:

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2404-8

Ref. 4 Nature:

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2405-7

Ref. 5 The Economist:

https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2020/04/16/tracking-covid-19-excess-deaths-across-countries

Ref. 6 Bloomberg:

https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2020-opinion-coronavirus-europe-lockdown-excess-deaths-recession/

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