From Matangi Tonga Magazine, Vol. 15, no. 4, January 2001.

The Vatican City wanted to help the Vaiola Hospital, said Professor Caetano from the University of Rome, when he visited Tonga’s base hospital at the end of November.

Professor Caetano said that before his visit to Tonga he had held discussions with the General Secretary of the Vatican, and the Pope was aware that he was in Tonga. He presented a blood testing machine to Dr Viliami Tangi, Tonga’s Minister of Health, as a token of assistance from the Vatican City.

He said that the blood testing machine, valued at $10,000 was a German technology, built in Switzerland, and could make 17 different  kinds of blood tests. It takes only three minutes for a test to be completed, compared with about an hour using the old method.

The Minister of Health said the machine would speed up blood testing at the hospital, and would reduce the staffing requirement in this area.

Professor Caetano said that the warm relationship between the Vatican and Tonga began in 1996 when the Crown Prince Tupouto‘a attended a Health Conference at the Vatican City where he met the Pope.