Several hundred Tongan nationals who are stranded in distant countries, include a small cluster of surgical patients and their carers, who became stuck in India when Tonga's border closed on March 23.

The Ministry of Health wants them to be repatriated but CEO Dr Siale 'Akau'ola voiced his extreme frustration today that he can find no viable pathway home for these patients, without stronger collaboration in the region.

“We have difficulty in repatriating back our folks from India, because no one can help us. It is quite a bit frustrating!” he told a regional conference at the Fa'onelua Centre this afternoon.

He believes there is an urgent need for strong collaboration with regional organisations such as the Pacific Island Forum Secretariat and South Pacific Commission.

“These institutions, in my view, in the midst of CoVid-19, need to be strengthened,” he said.

“Because I think we need to go to them and ask for help and they should be able to have the capacity to help us. I think we need to put resources where we can just ask the Suva office to help us with this.”

Dr 'Akau'ola said the only alternative was for him to go begging.

“We have to go begging all over the world for things like that, because there is no capacity in the Pacific.”

He did not say how many Tongans were stranded in India at the moment, or how they were surviving. Their treatments were facilitated under a partnership with the Apollo Hospitals in India.

The Ministry of Health since 2019 has been sending patients to India for serious surgical operations that can't be performed in Tonga. Some have also received oncology, radiation and chemotherapy. The cost of being treated in India, is roughly a third of what it costs for the same treatment in New Zealand and Australia.

Fiji and Samoa have also been sending patients for treatment in India for many years.

Vulnerable

In his presentation to the conference on the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent on CoViD-19 and drivers of change, Dr ‘Akau’ola also spoke about how CoViD-19 has highlighted the vulnerability of the health system in Tonga and other small island states.

“For me trying to build and maintain resilience against shocks like CoViD-19 is a fairly complex process. It is almost impossible for a lot of small countries to sustain any kind of response like that.

“We need to collaborate. We need to work in solidarity as a group of Pacific Islands States. And I think it further emphasizes a need to deepen the duties and therefore the relevance of regional organisations that will work directly with Pacific Island country leaders.”

Dr 'Akau'ola highlighted opportunities for health, including transforming health systems to make them more flexible and resilient to shocks and disasters.

Repatriated

There are over 2800 people registered with the Tonga government for repatriation, with 1500 in New Zealand, 500 in Australia, and the remainder in other countries, including India.

However, Tonga has repatriated only 207 people to date, 57 from Fiji and 150 from New Zealand, which are low risk countries.

The Tongans stranded in countries like India have not been able to make their way to low risk countries near Tonga due to international travel restrictions.

- Eleanor Gee