Results for Pacific Islands

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.

Major economic and social impacts of CoViD-19 on the Pacific was the focus of the Pacific Islands Forum Economic Ministers Meeting (FEMM) over the last two days, 11-12 August.

A new tropical cyclone outlook model will generate much earlier predictions for the number of tropical cyclones than current models used in Pacific Island countries, says the University of Newcastle in Australia. According to its current predictions, Tonga should expect one or two cyclones for the upcoming cyclone season (December – April).

The New Zealand Pacific Business Council will hold a free webinar tomorrow, Wednesday 5 August, to hear from a diverse range of speakers who will provide their views on the prioritisation of a Pacific Bubble.

Ko e ongo Talatupu‘a ‘o fekau‘aki pea mo e hala fononga ‘o ‘Aho‘eitu, ko e ‘uluaki Tu‘i Tonga ‘i he 950BC. Ko e konga ‘uluaki ‘eni ‘o e ngaahi fakamatala ne mau to‘o mai meihe fakatotolo na‘e fai ‘e Rev. Dr Siotame Havea pea pulusi he 2015 ‘i he tohi ko e – Tonga: Fonua ‘a Kainga.

A large fruit-eating bird from Tonga joins the dodo in the line-up of giant island pigeons hunted to extinction. New research into fossils shows that ‘Tongoenas burleyi’, a newly described genus and species, inhabited the Pacific islands for at least 60,000 years, but vanished within a century or two of human arrival around 2,850 years ago. The size of a large duck, ‘T. burleyi’ was likely capable of swallowing fruit as big as a tennis ball, said study lead author David Steadman.

A total of $24.2 million has to date been provided by the United States to support efforts to prevent and respond to the spread of COVID-19 in the Pacific Islands, through support for humanitarian partners, including Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and UN World Food Program (WFP).

A study led by Massey University to look at the barriers to self-management of asthma in Pacific children has been awarded $971,541 by the Health Research Council of New Zealand. Pacific people are three times more likely to be hospitalised with asthma than Europeans or other New Zealanders, said Principal Investigator Dr Sunia Foliaki.

Today, the Pacific governments, together with donor partners, launched the Health Care on Air Pacific training to be aired on radio and other communication platforms for front-line healthcare workers across 14 Pacific Island countries. One of the greatest challenges currently facing healthcare systems in the Pacific is how to provide front-line healthcare workers with training on managing COVID-19 infections when they arise