While no cases of coronavirus have been identified in Tonga, the country has raised its alert level from high to very high, in a fourth travel advisory issued today, aimed at preventing the virus from entering the country.
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Results for Health
Tuesday 3 March 2020
Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Thursday 9 January 2020
Nuku'alofa, Tonga
An Otago University study is proposing that malaria in the past may have shaped the genome of Pacific people today, resulting in a genetic predisposition to Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) such as diabetes and gout. The elevated levels of uric acids, which can strengthen the immune response to the mosquito-borne disease are also what causes the inflammatory reactions in gout. “Pacific people have their own genetic variants,” says Dr Ana Gosling.
Thursday 26 December 2019
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Apia, Samoa
Health services for over half a million people in four Pacific countries, Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu, will benefit from a project that is helping to improve overall immunization coverage rates and support greater efficiency of primary health care.
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Tuesday 17 December 2019
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Seven biomedical engineering students from New Zealand’s University of Canterbury (UC) are spending 10 weeks in Tonga’s hospitals and clinics to repair life-saving medical equipment and to engineer biomedical solutions, as part of a work experience pilot program.
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Tuesday 3 December 2019
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Samoa is experiencing the deadliest epidemic to hit the South Pacific in the 21st century. The nation’s Government today confirmed 55 measles related deaths with at least 48 of the victims being being children under the age of four. A total of 3,881 measles cases have been recorded by Samoa’s Ministry of Health since the outbreak began in October.
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Wednesday 20 November 2019
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Suva, Fiji
UNICEF is supporting the Government of Samoa to respond to a measles outbreak in the country. The Government of Samoa officially declared a state of emergency on 15 November 2019, four weeks into the continuing measles outbreak with more than 1000 suspected cases so far. The epidemic has claimed the lives of 14 children under-five years old and one adult. Lesser outbreaks are reported in Tonga and Fiji.
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Monday 18 November 2019
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
A Tonga Body Building Federation brought home 3 gold medals, 1 silver medal and 3 bronze medals from the 25th South Pacific Body Building Championships held in New Caledonia, from 23-27 October 2019. The championship will be held in Tonga next year.
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Wednesday 6 November 2019
Suva, Fiji
The World Health Organisation (WHO) and UNICEF are calling on Pacific communities to vaccinate against measles in response to recent outbreaks of measles in Tonga and Samoa.
Tuesday 5 November 2019
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Wellington, New Zealand
The threat that climate change poses to global health is the theme of an annual conference being held by New Zealand’s Otago Global Health in Wellington, New Zealand this week 6 – 7 November. Pacific research will be the focus of the conference.
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Thursday 30 May 2019
New York, USA
The immune system – an intricate network of cells, tissues, and organs – is the human body’s primary mechanism for staying healthy. Decoding it should be central to our efforts to understand and fight illness, whether non-communicable diseases such as cancer, diabetes, and Alzheimer’s, or infectious ones such as tuberculosis, malaria, and Ebola. By fully leveraging the power of our immune systems, we could find new ways to fight disease everywhere. Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning will be the keys to this achievement - because of the vast size and complexity of the human immune system. It is billions of times larger than the human genome. By Wayne Koff.
Wednesday 30 January 2019
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Twenty-four talented cooks from Tonga, Fiji, Vanuatu, and Samoa, will compete in a reality TV cooking show competition hosted by celebrity chef, Robert Oliver, encouraging Pacific Islanders to make good food choices in a bid to fight non-communicable diseases.
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Friday 18 January 2019
Georgetown, Guyana
One of the biggest obstacles to reducing the rate of unplanned pregnancies is the lack of sex education in schools. If more teenagers had access to sex education and contraception, fewer girls would have their lives interrupted by pregnancy. Only by empowering women and girls with the resources to control their reproduction will the grim statistics that have long burdened Guyana – and many other countries – begin to change for the better. By Patricee Douglas
Monday 14 January 2019
New York, USA
In a world divided by conflict and greed, the Global Fund’s fight against AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria is a matter of enlightened self-interest and a reminder of how much humanity can accomplish when we cooperate to save lives. For public and private donors, that means providing the financing needed to eliminate all three scourges by 2030.
Monday 1 October 2018
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Over 30 cases of breast cancer are diagnosed in Tonga every year, Dr Amelia Afuhaamango Tu‘ipulotu told the Tonga Breast Cancer Society this morning, October 1, at the launch of their Pink October breast cancer awareness campaign. “The number may be higher because many women do not come forward,” she said.
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Friday 17 August 2018
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Ambulances, vehicles and medical equipment worth $1.8m pa’anga was handed over to Tonga’s Ministry of Health by the Japanese Government on Wednesday, 15 August.
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Tuesday 7 August 2018
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Student nurses from the University of Sydney and the University of Canberra are undertaking professional placements at Vaiola Hospital and village clinics in Tonga as part of Australia’s New Colombo Plan.
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Monday 14 May 2018
New York, USA
For decades, the global health community has paid lip service to the critical role of unequal power relations, particularly relating to gender, in determining health outcomes. A recent report by the advocacy and accountability group Global Health 50/50 which reviewed 140 organizations working in the global health sector, makes for disturbing reading....The situation is even worse for men and boys, who, regardless of country, can expect to live shorter, unhealthier lives than their female peers. According to the report, only a third of organizations take a gendered approach to the health needs of the whole population, and no organizations target men and boys specifically. By Helen Clark and Sania Nishtar
Wednesday 25 April 2018
Basel, Switzerland
Ending an epidemic is a marathon undertaking, and in the case of malaria, we are nearing the finish line. But we will need to keep up the momentum. Still, mounting challenges such as drug and insecticide resistance threaten to reverse the progress we have made. For two consecutive years now, malaria deaths have risen, while funding has flatlined. This year’s World Malaria Day (April 25) should thus spur a redoubling of our efforts. Eradicating malaria will require new medical and health-policy solutions as well as stronger political will.
Wednesday 21 March 2018
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Suva, Fiji
Discussions around the overall health and safety of Pacific Islands impacted by extreme weather events induced by climate change were discussed at a World Health Organization (WHO) meeting last week over two days on 15 and 16 March in Suva, Fiji.
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Wednesday 28 February 2018
Massachusetts, United States
The speculation spreads every time an older politician of either party blunders verbally or seems to lose the thread: Is it Alzheimer's? Early dementia? Impaired judgment? At a recent Harvard Law School Petrie-Flom Center forum called "Dementia and Democracy" Professor Francis Shen of the Center for Law, Brain and Behavior made a point: Politicians, who have huge advantages as incumbents, and federal judges, who serve for life, tend to stay on the job well past typical retirement ages. But their cognitive failings can often be very difficult to pin down. So what is to be done? By Carey Goldberg.
