A new paper by women scholars warns colonial power structures are still shaping health systems across the Pacific region.

They are calling for a radical shift in global health leadership and decision-making.

The call comes from a new paper published this month in The Lancet Regional Health – Western Pacific, led by researchers from Waipapa Taumata Rau, the University of Auckland, alongside Pacific collaborators.

The paper argues that while global health is framed around fairness and inclusion, Pacific knowledge and leadership are often marginalised in practice.

Dr Sainimere Boladuadua, lead author from the University of Auckland’s Department of Paediatrics: Child and Youth Health, said these power imbalances directly impacted on communities.

“Global Health must stop undervaluing Pacific expertise,” Dr Boladuadua said in a statement.

“When overseas consultants are paid more than local experts, and research extracts knowledge without building local capacity, colonial patterns are reinforced.”

Colonisation inequities
The researchers have traced current inequities to the history of colonisation in the Pacific, driven by commercial, religious, and military interests.

While many Pacific nations have since achieved political independence, the paper argues that colonial structures persist through unequal trade relationships, labour migration schemes, and externally controlled funding.

Dr Boladuadua said these systems limited Pacific control over health research, policy priorities, and resources, even as communities face growing burdens from non-communicable diseases and climate change.

“Global Health, at its core, is about health equity for all,” she said. “That means prioritising the most pressing problems faced by communities with the least resources.”

A plan for change
The paper outlines four action areas to transform global health in the Pacific: strengthening sovereignty through Pacific-led decision-making; integrating Indigenous and Western knowledge systems; building genuine and reciprocal partnerships; and ensuring fair pay, recognition, and leadership opportunities for Pacific professionals.

The authors argue Pacific Island countries must be supported to set their own priorities, including control over funding, research management, data sovereignty, and workforce training.

The researchers also highlight language as a source of power. They say English is often treated as the default in global health, but its use “should not come at the expense of Indigenous Pacific languages and knowledge systems”.

The research places Pacific women at the centre of decolonisation efforts, noting that while colonisation was deeply patriarchal, Indigenous women historically held major leadership roles in island societies.

“Contrary to the control of white women during colonisation, Indigenous women held powerful positions in Island societies,” the research states.

Growing Pacific leadership
Dr Boladuadua said change was already underway, pointing to the establishment of the Fiji Institute of Pacific Health Research and the launch of the Pacific Academy of Sciences in Sāmoa as signs of growing Pacific leadership.

At the academy’s opening ceremony, then-prime minister Fiamē Naomi Mata’afa said the launch marked an important milestone for regional collaboration and would “give voice to science in and from the Pacific Islands”.

The authors argue Pacific-led approaches offer a blueprint not only for the region, but for building fairer and more resilient global health systems worldwide.

Republished from Pacific Media Network News with permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Pacific delegates have been left “shocked” by the omission of sexual and reproductive health rights from the key declaration of the 69th UN Commission on the Status of Women meeting in New York.

This year CSW69 will review and assess the implementation of the 1995 Beijing Declaration, the UN’s blueprint for gender equality and rights for women and girls.

The meeting’s political declaration adopted on Tuesday reaffirmed the UN member states’ commitment to the rights, equality and empowerment of all women and girls.

It was the product of a month of closed-door negotiations during which a small number of countries, reportedly including the U.S. and Russia, were accused of diluting the declaration’s final text.

The Beijing Declaration three decades ago mentioned reproductive rights 50 times, unlike this year’s eight-page political declaration.

“It is shocking. Thirty years after Beijing, not one mention of sexual and reproductive health and rights,” Pacific delegate and women’s advocate Noelene Nabulivou from Fiji told BenarNews.

“The core of gender justice and human rights lies in the ability to make substantive decisions over one’s body, health and sexual decision making.

“We knew that in 1995, we know it now, we will not let anyone take SRHR away, we are not going back.”

Common sentiment
It is a common sentiment among the about 100 Pacific participants at the largest annual gathering on women’s rights that attracts thousands of delegates from around the world.

“This is a major omission, especially given the current conditions in several (Pacific) states and the wider pushback and regression on women’s human rights,” Fiji-based DIVA for Equality representative Viva Tatawaqa told BenarNews from New YorK.

Tatawaqa said that SRHR was included in the second version of the political declaration but was later removed due to “lack of consensus” and “trade-offs in language.”

“We will not let everyone ignore this omission, whatever reason was given for the trade-off,” she said.

The Pacific Community’s latest survey of SRHR in the region reported progress had been made but significant challenges remain.

It highlighted an urgent need to address extreme rates of gender-based violence, low contraceptive use (below 50% in the region), lack of confidentiality in health services and hyperendemic levels of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), which all fall under the SRHR banner.

Ten Pacific Island countries submitted detailed Beijing+30 National Reports to CSW69.

Anti-abortion alliance
Opposition to SRHR has come from 39 countries through their membership of the anti-abortion Geneva Consensus Declaration, an alliance founded in 2020. Their ranks include this year’s CSW69 chair Saudi Arabia, Russia, Hungary, Egypt, Kenya, Indonesia and the U.S. under both Trump administrations, along with predominantly African and Middle East countries.

“During negotiations, certain states including the USA and Argentina, attempted to challenge even the most basic and accepted terms around gender and gender equality,” Amnesty said in a statement after the declaration.

“The text comes amid mounting threats to sexual and reproductive rights, including increased efforts, led by conservative groups, to roll back on access to contraception, abortion, comprehensive sexuality education, and gender-affirming care across the world,” adding the termination of USAID had compounded the situation.

The UN Population Fund (UNFPA) confirmed in February that the US, the UN’s biggest donor, had cut US$377 million in funding for reproductive and sexual health programmes and warned of “devastating impacts.”

Since coming to office, President Donald Trump has also reinstated the Global Gag Rule, prohibiting foreign recipients of U.S. aid from providing or discussing abortions.

In his opening address to the CSW69, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres issued a dire warning on progress on gender equality across the world.

‘Poison of patriachy’
“The poison of patriarchy is back, and it is back with a vengeance, slamming the brakes on action, tearing up progress, and mutating into new and dangerous forms,” he said, without singling out any countries or individuals.

“The masters of misogyny are gaining strength,” Guterres said, denouncing the “bile” women faced online.

He warned at the current rate it would take 137 years to lift all women out of poverty, calling on all nations to commit to the “promise of Beijing”.

The CSW was established days after the inaugural UN meetings in 1946, with a focus on prioritising women’s political, economic and social rights.

CSW was instrumental in drafting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and the Beijing Declaration.

One of the declaration’s stated goals is to “enhance women’s sexual and reproductive health and education”, the absence of which would have “a profound impact on women and men.”

The 1995 Beijing Platform for Action identified 12 key areas needing urgent attention — including poverty, education, health, violence — and laid out pathways to achieve change, while noting it would take substantial resources and financing.

This year’s political declaration came just days after International Women’s Day, when UN Pacific released a joint statement singled out rises in adolescent birth rates and child marriage, exacerbating challenges related to health, education, and long-term well-being of women in the region.

Gender-based violence
It also identified the region has among the highest levels of gender-based violence and lowest rates of women’s political representation in the world.

A comparison of CSW59 in 2015 and the CSW69 political declaration reveal that many of the same challenges, language, and concerns persist.

Guterres in his address offered “antidote is action” to address the immense gaps.

Pacific Women Mediators Network coordinator Sharon Bhagwan-Rolls told BenarNews much of that action in the Pacific had been led by women.

“The inclusion of climate justice and the women, peace, and security agenda in the Beijing+30 Action Plan is a reminder of the intersectional and intergenerational work that has continued,” she said.

“This work has been forged through women-led networks and coalitions like the Pacific Women Mediators Network and the Pacific Island Feminist Alliance for Climate Justice, which align with the Blue Pacific Strategy and the Revitalised Pacific Leaders Gender Equality Declaration.”

Republished from BenarNews with permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Surveillance and better vaccine coverage is needed to prevent another measles outbreak in the Pacific, says the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) Western Pacific regional director.

Dr Saia Ma’u Piukala said many children missed out on routine vaccinations — including measles and rubella — during the covid-19 pandemic.

According to WHO, measles cases jumped by 225 percent — from just over 1400 cases in 2022 to more than 5000 last year — in the Western Pacific region.

“I think the health workforce were concentrating on covid-19 vaccinations and forgot about routine vaccinations, not only for measles, but other routine immunisation schedule,” Piukala told RNZ Pacific.

“People are going back to fill the gaps.”

From 2022 to 2023, 11 countries in the Western Pacific, including Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, Palau and Papua New Guinea, conducted nationwide measles and rubella vaccination campaigns.

Catch-up successful
Piukala said the catch-up campaigns had been successful.

“That will definitely reduce the risk,” he said.

“No child should get sick or die of measles.”

In 2019, Samoa had an outbreak that killed 83 people off the back of an outbreak in Auckland.

Piukala said the deaths made people understand the importance of measles and rubella vaccinations for their children.

Fiji, Guam, French Polynesia and New Caledonia are the only countries or territories that have local testing capacity for measles, with most nations sending samples to Melbourne for testing.

Piukala said WHO plans for Samoa, the Cook Islands, and the Solomon Islands to have testing capacity by 2025.

“The PCR machines that were made available in Pacific Island countries during the covid pandemic can also be used to detect other respiratory viruses, including the flu, LSV, and measles and rubella.”

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Sixty four compartments of Papua New Guinea’s main mortuary have been out of service since the festive season while a new refrigerated container has also broken down, leaving the hospital looking for room while another 257 dead bodies lie unclaimed.

Port Moresby General Hospital Chief Executive Officer Dr Paki Molumi confirmed with the Post-Courier that the mortuary is full and that a mass burial is expected in the next three weeks.

The storage issue at the country’s biggest hospital is recurrent despite promises and assistance from the national government, the National Capital District Commission, the NCD Provincial Health Authority, partner agencies and others.

The hospital’s Director of Medical Services Dr Koni Sobi said due to the ageing infrastructure, repairing these compartments was an issue.

“The cooling system of a particular container broke down last week,” he said.

“A contractor was engaged last week but they are unable to get inside and do repair work until we empty that container of all human bodies and body parts.

“The 64 compartments’ chiller in the main mortuary building have also been out of service since the festive season. There is a contractor working to repair it. However, it is a very old unit, needs replacing or a major rehabilitation work, which is undergoing this process at the moment,” Dr Sobi said.

Seven bodies lying in open
When the Post-Courier visited the mortuary on Wednesday, at least seven bodies were left lying outside in the open waiting for relatives to come forward.

Meanwhile, the unpleasant smell from the morgue has affected residents nearby.

Dr Sobi explained that the POMGEN mortuary workers had began shifting the bodies from the container where the cooling system had broken down to five other containers, however the other containers were also full.

“We have bodies in the morgue since September 2023. Currently there are 257 bodies and body parts.

“The smell is evident often when the container is opened to remove body or bodies.

“Preparations for another mass burial have commenced and expected to take place within the next 3 weeks,” he said.

The hospital is now appealing to relatives to come forward and collect bodies of their loved ones for burial.

Claudia Tally is a PNG Post-Courier reporter. Republished with permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

A Pasifika health leader hopes the Royal Commission into the Covid-19 pandemic will look into the equity of the response and resource allocation.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern yesterday announced a Royal Commission into the government’s covid-19 response which will be chaired by Professor Tony Blakely, an epidemiologist working at the University of Melbourne.

He is joined by former National Party MP Hekia Parata, and the previous secretary to Treasury, John Whitehead, as commissioners.

Pasifika Futures chief executive Debbie Sorensen said Pasifika people were essentially left to form their own response during the earlier stages of the pandemic.

That was despite Pasifika people working a large proportion of jobs in MIQ facilities and at the airport and other front line locations, she said.

Many affected Pacific families experienced a great deal of hardship, she said.

It was important for the inquiry to look at the covid-19 response in regards to specific communities, she said.

Slowness of response
“We’re really clear that equity in the response and in the resource allocation is an important consideration.”

One issue was the slowness of the government’s response to both Pacific and Māori communities during the height of the pandemic, she said.

“Advice was provided to the government, you know cabinet papers provided advice on specific responses for our communities and that advice was ignored.”

An important aspect of the inquiry should be reviewing how that advice was given to the government, its response to it and how the government’s sought more information, she said.

The inquiry’s initial scope appeared to be very narrow, but it could be broadened as it went along, Sorensen said.

“The impact on mental health and the ongoing economic burden for our communities is immense — you know we have a whole generation of young people who have not continued their education because they were required to go in to work.”

Sorensen said often young people had to work because they were the only person in their family who had a job at that time due to covid-19.

Mental health demand
The pandemic also increased demand for mental health services which were already under pressure, she said.

Anyone who was unwell unlikely to be able to get an appointment within six to eight months which was shameful, she said.

Sorensen would have preferred the inquiry had been announced earlier, but it was an opportunity to better prepare for the future, she said.

But Te Aka Whai Ora, the Māori Health Authority, chief medical officer Dr Rawiri McKree Jansen told Morning Report he had some concerns that the probe into the covid-19 response was coming too soon to gain a full picture.

The pandemic was ongoing and starting the inquiry so early may obstruct a complete view of it, he said.

“I understand that there’s people champing at the bit and [saying] we should’ve done it before but it’s very difficult to do that and adequately learn the lessons.”

Understanding how to get a proper pandemic response was in everyone’s interest, but the pandemic was now still in its third wave, he said.

About to begin
Nevertheless, the inquiry was about to get underway and it could make a large contribution if it was done well, he said.

“I’m sure there will be many Māori communities that want to have voice in the inquiry and you know contribute to a better understanding of how we can manage pandemics really well.

“We’ve had pandemics before and they’ve been absolutely tragic. We’ve got this pandemic and the outcome for us is something like two to two-and-a-half times the rate of hospitalisations and deaths, so Māori communities are fundamentally very interested in bedding in the learnings that we’ve achieved in the pandemic.”

Dr Jansen hoped the inquiry would provide enduring information about managing pandemics with a very clear focus on Māori and how to support the best outcomes for the Māori population.

Inquiry’s goal next pandemic
The head of the Royal Commission said the review needed to put New Zealand in better position to respond next time a pandemic hits.

Professor Blakely said the breadth of experience and skills of the commissioners was welcome, and would help them to cover the wide scope of the Inquiry, ranging from the health response and legislative decisions, to the economic response.

Reviewing the response to the pandemic was a big job, he said.

“There’s already 75 reports done so far, I think about 1700 recommendations from those reports, New Zealand’s not the only country that’s been affected by this cause it’s a global epidemic, so there’s lots of other reports.”

The inquiry panel would have to sit at the top of all that work that had already been done “and pull it altogether from the perspective of Aotearoa New Zealand and what would help best there.

The inquiry needed to make New Zealand was prepared for a pandemic with good testing, good contact tracing and good tools that the Reserve Bank could use to support citizens in the time of a pandemic, Professor Blakely said.

“Our job is to try and create a situation where those tools are as good as possible, there’s frameworks to use when you’ve entered another pandemic, which will occur at some stage we just don’t know when.”

Professor Blakely said he was flying to New Zealand next week and would meet with Hekia Parata and John Whitehead to start thinking about the shape of the inquiry going forward.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ. 

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

The Marshall Islands is a live demonstration that the omicron BA.5 variant is the most contagious covid variant yet to appear.

In the first five days of the outbreak in the Marshall Islands, more than 10 percent of the population in Majuro, the capital, has tested positive, reports the Ministry of Health and Human Services.

From initial confirmation of a handful of positive cases in the community on August 8, the number of positive cases skyrocketed to the one-day total of 1064 testing positive on Saturday, August 13, at the three community-based “alternative care sites” established to test and treat local residents.

This brings Majuro’s total in the wake of the outbreak to more than 2000 cases in a population estimated at 20,000. There were nine early hospitalisations, with most reported to be recovered by Sunday.

President David Kabua on Friday signed a proclamation of a “State of Health Disaster,” which outlines duties of all ministries and government agencies to respond.

It also gives the government the power to access emergency funding for the response to the initial outbreak.

Health authorities reported two deaths in the first week — both men. The first was a 23-year-old man, the second a 69-year-old.

Both pronounced dead
They were both pronounced dead on arrival at Majuro Hospital’s emergency room, Health officials said. Their vaccine status was not announced.

Majuro experienced a chaotic first couple of days as alternative care sites (ACS) were rolled out at two local schools and at an outdoor sports court, with thousands of islanders crowding in to get tested.

By Friday the influx of hundreds of volunteers to support the Ministry of Health and Human Service in managing the flow of people led to improvements in the service.

“What we are seeing at these sites is what we expected, the ACS sites are getting better and more organised as we go along,” said Health Secretary Jack Niedenthal Sunday.

“Much of the chaos is beginning to die down, though it is still there for sure, but this will continue to get better.”

Spread was not contained to Majuro Atoll, the capital. Within a day of the initial confirmation of positive cases in the Majuro community last Monday, the first case was identified on Ebeye, the densely populated community next door to the US Army’s Reagan Test Site at Kwajalein Atoll.

In addition, several isolated outer atolls at week’s end were reporting multiple residents with covid-like symptoms.

All remote island flights suspended
All flights on Air Marshall Islands and all government ships to remote islands were suspended August 9 in an effort to contain the spread. But travellers from the previous week to remote islands unwittingly caused the spread.

August 12, a special Air Marshall Islands flight took a health team to Wotje Atoll, confirming multiple positive cases, training the local health aide to conduct further testing, and leaving a supply of PaxLovid and other therapeutic medicines for islanders, according to health officials.

RMI COVID-19 Update eo in an 08-12-2022. pic.twitter.com/lsjjXfWVin

— V7AB Radio Marshall Islands (@v7abradio) August 11, 2022

Health teams were attempting to visit other remote islands for similar follow up Sunday, but all AMI pilots reportedly tested positive, putting flights in limbo.

Although the government did not require a lockdown, most churches cancelled in-person services Sunday and the one main road in the capital atoll was unusually quiet as people appeared to be staying home.

Restaurants also saw the number of customers decline dramatically, although most continued to see ongoing demand for takeout meals.

“We at the Ministry of Health and Human Services are very proud of the response that has come in from all corners of our country to help us deal with the health crisis,” said Niedenthal.

The ministry struggled in the initial phase of the outbreak with more than 200 of its staff, including many doctors and nurses, testing positive for covid — many exposed before they knew it was circulating in the community.

Covid-free success
Until last week the Marshall Islands had successfully employed some of the world’s strictest quarantine rules for people entering the North Pacific nation. This had kept it covid-free for the first two-and-a-half-years of the covid pandemic.

A reduction of quarantine time in recent weeks, coupled with unprecedented numbers of people coming in through the managed quarantine process is suspected to be the cause of the outbreak.

The government had earlier announced it was going to eliminate the managed quarantine requirement and open the borders on the October 1.

“As expected, the outbreak continues to gain strength,” Niedenthal said on Sunday.

“We had over 1000 cases in Majuro yesterday, almost double from the previous day. About 75 percent of the people we test are positive, which is an incredibly high positivity rate.”

Outbreak escalating
Last week, as the outbreak was escalating, Majuro traditional leaders sent a letter to President Kabua calling for the borders to be closed and opposing the announcement that medical teams arriving this week would not be required to quarantine.

The medical surge support teams are from the US Centers for Disease Control and other agencies. Niedenthal emphasised the importance for delivering services to the public by these medical professionals.

He described these as “boots on the ground medical support professionals” and said they would be tested on arrival and then sent right into the field to support ongoing services by local Health authorities.

“As a country we have moved from prevention to mitigation because we are now fighting this disease,” he said.

“The days of quarantine upon arrival are now over. I know some people are nervous about this, but we at the Ministry of Health are not and we are the ones on the frontline,” Niedenthal said.

“Please respect these public health decisions. We knew this would have to be a fast shift in strategy that would trouble some people because we had been working so hard (and) successfully to prevent the disease from coming into the Marshall Islands.”

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

The government of Niue has announced the country will move to covid-19 alert level red after it recorded nine new cases of the virus in the past 24 hours.

After recording its first cases of the virus in the community today, Niue’s government now says growing case numbers indicate community transmission is possible.

In a statement, Niue’s Minister of Health and acting Premier Sauni Tongatule said: “These cases are from different households and four of the cases are not linked to the border. This indicates the possibility of community transmission of covid-19.”

Tongatule announced the country would move immediately to its highest Covid-19 alert level but stopped short of an enforced lockdown

“Following the Niue National Covid Emergency Response Plan, where there are local cases that exist in the community, and with the high possibility of community transmission, we will move to Covid Alert Code Red. This will take effect immediately.

“However, there will be no lockdown in place as we take action to mitigate or minimise the impact of the disease in our communities as much as possible,” Tongatule said.

Close contacts and persons of interest associated with positive cases had been informed to get tested, he said.

Tongatule said Niue’s public service and essential government services would continue to operate.

He advised the public to limit their movement and interactions outside of their households this weekend and asked that they practice social distancing, mask wearing and hand hygiene.

Director-General for Social Services Gaylene Tasmania said anyone with covid-19 symptoms should go to the drive-through testing service at the Niue Foou Hospital which will be open from 9am to 6pm local time tomorrow.

NZ covid-19 deaths top 1500
In Wellington, the New Zealand Ministry of Health reported today that the number of cases confirmed as attributable to covid-19 had risen above the 1500 mark, as 4238 new community cases were reported.

The ministry said in the statement that there were 1502 deaths confirmed as attributable to the coronavirus, either as the underlying cause of death or as a contributing factor.

It said the average increase in deaths each day attributable to covid-19 over the past week was now 19.

Another 23 deaths of people with covid-19 were also reported today.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

The words of Waikato Pasifika health advocate Mareta Matenga, who is helping lead a new Pan Pacific Community Hub in Hamilton.

“I am supporting the development of an integrated wellbeing service delivery model which will see different K’aute Pasifika-owned entities operating seamlessly in the same space,” Matenga said.

“This involves me supporting Leaupepe Rachel Karalus, K’aute Pasifika CEO, to support the development of this model, by working alongside other consultants who are also working on the development of the hub.

“My role is specific to the actual services that will work out of the new hub and preparing the team to transition well to the hub.”

The Pan Pacific Community Hub will include an integrated health centre, a stand-alone early learning facility and an open fale-style community space.

The fale is expected to open in September, followed by the childcare and early learning centre in November. The wellbeing component is set to open early next year.

Free or low cost services
The hub is expected to offer free or low cost services in health, social, employment, housing and education.

K’aute Pasifika said the hub would enable the trust to better support the holistic wellbeing of families using Pacific models of care.

It will also increase connectedness and the sense of identity, and celebrate and support academic, sporting, creative and leadership potential and achievements.

Born and raised in Kirikiriroa (Hamilton), Matenga’s parents Ere (nee Marsters, Pamati Island) and the late George Ford (Vaipae, Aitutaki Island), together with her eight siblings have dedicated their lives to serving the Hamilton Cook Island Community and their Pacific Islands Presbyterian faith community.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

A total of NZ$196 million has been set aside for Pacific services in Aotearoa New Zealand in this year’s Budget.

A big chunk of that — $76 million will go on Pacific health services.

Finance Minister Grant Robertson said the cash injection would be used to support Pacific health providers, to improve infrastructure, fund a targeted diabetes prevention and management programme and prepare for system reform.

Operating funds to the tune of $47 million have also been announced for Pacific education and employment initiatives.

The funds would be used to support Pacific science, technology, engineering, arts and maths opportunities, Robertson said.

An initial $49 million has been set aside for building 300 houses for Pacific people in eastern Porirua over the next decade.

The government’s pledge to deliver an historical account of the Dawn Raids — a crackdown on mostly Pacific migrants to New Zealand in the 1970s — receives $13.7m in funding.

The Minister for Pacific Peoples Aupito William Sio said the priorities in this year’s Budget were in line with its Pacific Wellbeing Strategy.

“This strategy is aimed at lifting Pacific wellbeing and aspirations in health, housing, education, business, employment, incomes, leadership, Pacific arts, sports, music and STEAM career pathways,” he said.

Dawn Raids account, home build project included in Pacific package
“This government is committed to delivering on its Dawn Raids apology package in this Budget as well,” Aupito said.

“The package will give greater public understanding of what Dawn Raids means to our nation and to enable the Teu le Va — to help restore harmonious relationships of mana and dignity, and empower our young people especially to be resilient, confident and vibrant.”

Included in the Budget for New Zealand’s Pacific community:

• A package to build up to 300 homes over the next 10 years for Pacific families in Eastern Porirua, with initial funding of $49m in the forecast period.
• $13.7 million to implement the government’s commitment to deliver a Dawn Raids historical account.
• $49.9 million for the Pacific Provider Development Fund, to support Pacific providers to adapt their models of care into the new health system.
• $20 million to implement a diabetes prevention and treatment programme for targeted Pacific communities in South Auckland.
• $8 million boost to continue the delivery of Tupu Aotearoa, which enables the delivery of personalised Pacific employment and training services.
• $15.5 million investment into Pacific economic development, which aims to meet community demand for services to support “shovel-ready” Pacific businesses and social enterprises across New Zealand.
• $1.6 million to maintain the Pacific Work Connect Programme which supports the continuation of a Pacific migrant support service.
• $18.3 million boost to the Toloa Science, Technology, Education, Arts and Mathematics programme. This initiative provides opportunities across Pacific peoples journeys through education and employment.
• $2 million to maintain and grow the Tulī Takes Flight and Pacific Education Foundation Scholarships, to Pacific education scholarships to address education system inequities.
• $13 million to support the growth of the Pacific bilingual and immersion schooling workforce and the retention of the current workforce.
• Up to $5 million of reprioritised funding over four years to fund further Professional Learning and Development (PLD) focussed on Tapasā: cultural competencies for teachers of Pacific learners.

New transmitter for RNZ Pacific
The government has also announced $4.4 million for RNZ Pacific to buy a new transmitter to broadcast news across the Pacific.

Described as “critical infrastructure”, the transmitter is among plans for a new public media entity which is set to start operating next year.

Broadcasting Minister Kris Faafoi said the funding of the media entity would ensure New Zealanders could continue to access quality local content and trusted news.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

A snapshot of how the covid-19 pandemic is impacting on Pacific nations and territories today:

Second Covid-19 death in American Samoa
American Samoa has recorded its second covid-19 related death.

The death was of a woman in her mid-50s, who also had pre-existing health conditions.

Over the weekend, 265 cases were recorded, bringing the total number of active covid cases to 2779.

Seven people are in hospital with covid-19.

Vanuatu health authorities record 296 new positive cases
Vanuatu Minister of Health Bruno Leingkon announced that 2577 covid-19 cases have been recorded.

Five people have been hospitalised for Covid-related illnesses. But there have been no Covid-related deaths in Vanuatu, which remains under alert level 3.

The lockdown has been extended for a further five days.

Samoa records more community cases
Samoa now has a total of 1239 active community cases of covid-19, as another 182 people tested positive.

The Ministry of Health said 97 percent of community cases are located in Upolu and the remaining 3 percent in Savai’i.

No community cases have been recorded in the islands of Manono and Apolima Tai.

The ministry said women make up 58 percent of confirmed community cases and 15 to 35 year olds have recorded the most infections.

No additional cases have been detected at the border.

Mandatory testing for travellers to Tahiti to be abolished
Although another 190 covid-19 cases have been recorded in French Polynesia in the last 48 hours, Tahiti is easing testing requirements for travellers.

The electronic registration system for travellers, as well as mandatory tests for arriving passengers at Tahiti’s airport, will be abolished from tomorrow.

The health authorities say six patients are in hospital, but none are in intensive care.

The number of active cases has continued to decline and is now 516.

The death toll stands at over 640, with most of the fatalities occuring during last year’s delta variant outbreak.

Two in intensive care in New Caledonia
New Caledonia has recorded another 32 covid-19 cases, confirming the trend of declining numbers.

The latest figure, issued on Friday, brings the total number of cases since September to 60,167.

Sixteen covid patients have been hospitalised, 2 of whom are in intensive care.

From today it will be possible to visit patients in hospitals and care centres without a health pass, although masks must still be worn.

Masks are no longer mandatory to be worn in public, but their continued use is recommended.

So far the pandemic has claimed 310 lives in New Caledonia, all of them during the delta outbreak in September.

CNMI drops indoor masking requirement
The Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas will no longer require people to wear face masks indoors.

The governor’s Covid-19 Task Force and the Commonwealth Healthcare Corporation (CHCC) have downgraded the US territory’s CDC community level from high to medium.

Local health authorities have cautioned immunocompromised individuals to still wear masks indoors. The same advice stands for people whose family members are immunocompromised.

“In Community Level Medium, people who are considered immunocompromised or at high risk for severe illness should talk to their healthcare provider about whether they need to wear a mask and take other precautions. Also, people who live with or have social contact with immunocompromised individuals should wear a mask when indoors with them,” the CHCC said in a statement.

The CHCC also said it would continue to require visitors and clinic patients to wear masks in patient-serving areas.

Last Thursday, the task force and CHCC also confirmed the CNMI’s 33rd Covid-19-related death.

Twenty six additional cases have been recorded, bringing the CNMI total to 11,022 cases since March 28, 2020.

All 26 cases were identified on March 24, 2022. As of March 25, 2022, three individuals have been hospitalised from covid-19.

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A Whanganui iwi leader says the Aotearoa New Zealand government’s decision to ease covid-19 measures at this time is a disgrace and shocking.

He is warning Māori to stay vigilant against omicron and prepare for more to come.

Tūpoho chair Ken Mair says Māori must continue to be extremely careful and take precautions against covid-19, despite the government’s new strategy to begin living with the virus.

Yesterday, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said gathering limits would ease before the weekend, with no limit for outside venues and gatherings of up to 200 allowed inside.

Vaccine passes and scanning would no longer be needed from April 4, and mandates would be scrapped for all except those in the health and aged care sectors, Corrections and at the border.

But Mair said the country was far from out of the woods, as shown by the number of daily covid-19 cases being reported — with 11 new deaths and 18,423 infections.

“It just seems crazy that the government are putting in place this strategy right now, at the worst time in regard to the high numbers of omicron within our community. It’s extremely dangerous,” Mair said.

Radio NZ News reports that Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said Māori had the highest rate of community cases of covid-19, overtaking Pacific people at 28 per 1000. Rates for NZ European and Asian ethic groups is 21 per 1000.

‘Where’s the Māori lens?’
“Where’s the Māori lens over this? Certainly, within our community there are hundreds [of cases] and there are a number in hospital.

“I just can’t understand a strategy where there hasn’t been any real analysis with substance in regard to the impact upon iwi, hapū and Māori, noting that we’re an extremely vulnerable community in the context of respiratory and asthma ailments.”

Mair said he understood some Māori leaders had been in discussion with the government and had made recommendations for the new strategy, but it appeared they had been ignored.

“I’ve been deeply concerned over the last couple of months where there doesn’t appear to be a strong Māori voice coming through or anything that might indicate that the government have a clear understanding of the ramifications of their decision around the covid strategy.

“This is a classic example — decisions being made right in the midst of cases going up, new variants around the corner, without understanding the impact and implications for Māori. I just think that’s a disgrace and shocking.”

Mair said he thought the strategy had been politicised, with Labour’s polling and political pressure the key factors.

“What motivates you to put in place an extremely dangerous strategy? You can only assume the motivation’s around political expediency and the impact upon economic wellbeing, without having the health lens driving your decision making.

Risk for vulnerable ignored
“The decisions by the prime minister and the government clearly have not taken into account the real vulnerability of Māori, and I think Māori, iwi and hapū have to be extremely careful in this precarious time.”

Yesterday, the prime minister said restrictions were being eased because it was safe to do so. Mair said this ignored the risk that remained for the vulnerable and sent the wrong message.

“I think because of the government’s strategy, people are saying things like: well, we’re going to get it anyway, it doesn’t matter, let’s get on with it and get back to normality as quickly as possible.

“The problem with those comments, of course, is the vulnerability of our Māori community, hapū and iwi is extremely high.

“I think our community in general is beginning to take a kind of defeatist approach and we should be, I think, extremely careful and vigilant in regard to dealing with this omicron.

“I have no doubt in my mind there’ll be more variants around the corner and we should always be prepared.”

Local Democracy Reporting is Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air. Asia Pacific Report is a community partner.

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The Samoa government has extended its alert level three lockdown for another two weeks, due to the rapid spread of the covid-19 in the community.

There are 467 confirmed covid-19 cases, 15 of which are imported cases of passengers on the repatriation flight from New Zealand in early March.

As case numbers climb there is real concern frontline workers will be most at risk of contracting the virus.

Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata’afa said the surge in the community cases was expected and would continue to increase due to the transmissibility of the virus.

“However it is clinically proven, that promoting the practices of simple protective behaviours that can reduce risk to ourselves, our friends and families; such as staying home, to reduce contact, and adhering to the preventative health measures will help reduce new infections, and subsequently contain community transmission,” she said.

Fiame added that these were crucial components of Samoa’s national response to covid-19 which would support the Ministry of Health to undertake all necessary health measures to contain the spread of the virus and respond to cases requiring hospital care.

She said enhancing surveillance and maintaining high surveillance rates needed the rollout of the paediatric Pfizer vaccine for children 5-11 years old, expected to start in Savai’i this week.

Vaccination rollout
“And the continuation of the vaccination rollout for everyone including booster does once the bulk supplies arrive over next week.”

The Prime Minister said their message at the outset of the covid-19 national response is that vaccines are highly effective in protecting against severe disease.

Unfortunately, the tests conducted this week, showed that some had not even started their vaccination or completed their second vaccine.

“This is a concern,” said the Prime Minister.

Fiame said every phase of Samoa’s journey would present new difficulties but they must remain resilient and unified and accept that everyone contributed to maintaining the well-being and health of the nation.

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Several hundred more cases of covid in Solomon Islands … Kiribati records first covid death …nearly 12,000 in isolation in New Caledonia … French Polynesia records first covid death in nearly four months … Federated States of Micronesia calls a halt to flights from neighbouring Guam … a partial border re-opening in the Northern Marianas … and Papua New Guinea’s Prime Minister James Marape says he is “doing well” while self-isolating at home from a covid-19 infection.

Several hundred more cases of covid in Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands recorded another 349 cases of covid 19 in the 24 hours to yesterday morning.

Health Minister Culwick Togamana said this took the number of people contracting the virus since the outbreak began last month to 3667.

He said the majority of the most recent cases had been recorded in Honiara where he said there was now very high community transmission.

Kiribati records first covid death
Kiribati has announced its first covid-19 death and 207 new cases in the community.

There are now almost 2000 positive infections, with more than 50 percent of those recorded in the last five days.

The Ministry of Health said the victim was an 80-year-old woman who had been hospitalised at an isolation centre.

The ministry said the woman had only received the first dose of her covid-19 vaccination.

Another woman, who is over 60-years-old, has been admitted and is being monitored at the Bikenibeu Isolation Centre.

The government is advising people to “take extra care and look after their elderly parents and relatives.”

Nearly 12,000 in isolation in New Caledonia
New Caledonia has recorded a further 2343 covid-19 cases in the past 24 hours, raising the number of active cases to nearly 12,000.

38 people are now in hospital, including two in intensive care.

The spread of the omicron variant started a month ago and is yet to peak.

Sixty six percent of the population is vaccinated.

Since September, there have been more than 30,000 recorded infections.

French Polynesia records first covid death in four months
French Polynesia has recorded 1058 new cases of covid-19 over the last 72 hours taking the total to 2974.

One death has been recorded — the first since October, taking the death toll to 637.

More than a third of the covid-19 cases are the omicron variant.

Four people are in hospital and one person in ICU.

The proportion of the population vaccinated is 78.6 percent.

FSM halts incoming repatriation flights
The Federated States of Micronesia has indefinitely stopped all incoming repatriation flights from Guam.

FSM’s Covid-19 Taskforce said the move was in response to the high number of coronavirus infections in the US Territory.

In a statement, the taskforce said it was essential for FSM to improve its vaccination rates before restarting flights to bring back citizens stranded in its neighbouring Guam.

The government said it would provide assistance for citizens who are stuck in Guam, but not provide further details at this stage.

Covid-19 vaccines are mandatory on the islands of FSM — meaning all citizens residing in the FSM must be vaccinated.

FSM’s public health emergency has been extended until the end of May.

Partial border reopening in the CNMI
The Northern Marianas has reopened its borders for fully vaccinated people.

The changes to the border protocols were made possible with 99 percent of CNMI’s eligible population now fully vaccinated, and 53 percent having had booster shots.

CNMI’s Covid-19 Taskforce said all travellers entering the territory by air or sea would no longer be tested on arrival.

Unvaccinated travellers, however, will be required to quarantine at home and get tested at a community based testing site five days after arrival.

All visitors to the Northern Mariana Islands will also need to complete a mandatory health declaration and upload their vaccination status.

Authorities say the health and safety of residents remain the top priority of the government.

The CNMI has recorded more than 6300 cases and 23 deaths.

PNG leader ‘doing well’ in covid recovery
Papua New Guinea’s Prime Minister James Marape says he is “alright” and “doing well” as he self-isolates at home from a Covid-19 infection.

Marape had to cut short his visit to China after he tested positive for coronavirus in Beijing last week.

In a statement yesterday, Marape said “there is nothing seriously wrong with me” and that “vaccination has really helped”.

He said he would be taking a second covid-19 test tomorrow and depending on results would provide an update on Friday on when he would resume his responsibilities.

His deputy Sam Basil is acting prime minister while Marape recovers.

The prime minister is urging fellow PNG citizens to get vaccinated.

PNG has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the world, with less than 3 percent of the population covered.

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A public health expert is urging New Zealanders to keep up the testing momentum, as testing rates take a dive over the long weekend.

Fewer than 13,000 people were swabbed for covid-19 in the past day, at least 5000 down on the most recent week days.

University of Otago senior lecturer Dr Lesley Gray is encouraging anyone with cold or flu-like symptoms, no matter how mild, to get tested for covid-19.

“We know that for those people that will get symptoms, it may start as simple as sneezing, a scratchy throat, a bit of a runny nose as if it were a run-of-the-mill cold,” she said.

“So, if you do get any of those symptoms, especially a scratchy throat, please do go forward and see if you can get tested.”

Gray said anyone who is feeling well should make a habit of regularly checking the Ministry of Health’s locations of interest, to see if they have been exposed to the virus

“It could be that if people are acquiring omicron, assuming there are more cases in the community, then we’ve got to accept that some people will not actually have any symptoms.

“So unless they identify that they may have been at a location of interest, or that they may be a close contact, they may be completely oblivious to the fact that they may also have covid-19.”

188 new community cases
The Ministry of Health reported 188 new community cases of covid-19 today — 20 fewer than yesterday.

It is the second day in a row that case numbers have fallen from Saturday’s record high of 243 infections.

Several new locations of interests have been added to the Ministry of Health’s website, including Air New Zealand flights, a Wellington restaurant, a Taupō cafe and a mosque in Hamilton.

Gray said it was important New Zealanders kept up the public health measures that had served the country well throughout the outbreak, such as masking, physical distancing, keeping a record of movements and staying home if unwell.

“If people identify their symptoms early, then take the steps to see if they’re a positive case, it makes a huge difference. We’ve all got families and nobody wants to be transmitting this to other family members, especially our young tamariki.”

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Māori health providers in Aotearoa New Zealand are holding back on covid-19 vaccinations for children in the face of growing anti-vaxxer protest in the wider Whanganui region.

That is despite the area recording the second-lowest rate in the country of vaccinations for children aged 5 to 11 years.

Iwi collective Te Ranga Tupua says one of its mobile vaccination clinics was egged in the Whanganui suburb of Aramoho on Wednesday and anti-vaxxer activity has been ramping up since children became eligible for vaccination.

According to the Ministry of Health, as of Wednesday only 1600 (24 percent) of 6600 eligible children in the Whanganui District Health Board area have had their first shot.

The rate for tamariki Māori is even worse, with only 400 (15 percent) of Māori aged between 5 and 11 years getting their first vaccination.

The Whanganui District Health Board area includes parts of Rangitīkei and the Waimarino/Ruapehu district.

Te Ranga Tupua rapid response vaccination co-lead Elijah Pue said anti-vaxxers are now targeting the iwi collective’s mobile teams daily with the message “hands off our tamariki”.

Ramped up the rhetoric
“The anti-vax community have ramped up the rhetoric. It is a health and safety issue for our staff and our frontline teams.”

The iwi collective did not want to bring in security, preferring instead to encourage kōrero, he said.

Te Ranga Tupua is midway through a 15-week effort to lift Māori vaccination rates in Whanganui, Rangitīkei, South Taranaki and the Waimarino.

Pue said the iwi collective was taking the time to engage with parents who had questions or were hesitant before it launched a region-wide child vaccination rollout on 14 February.

About 120 parents participated in an online information session with Covid-19 experts last week. Pue said Te Ranga Tupua would continue to take a cautious approach and had more information sessions for parents planned next week.

The Whanganui DHB vaccination uptake for both Māori and non-Māori children is the second lowest in the country, with only Northland recording lower numbers.

Spokesperson Louise Allsopp said the DHB was encouraging whānau to talk with their trusted healthcare providers to work through any concerns about vaccinating their 5 to 11-year-olds.

“We are also ensuring existing providers are supported to start vaccinating children when they are ready,” Allsopp said.

Right information for whānau
“The key things are that people have the right information to make their decision for their whānau, then [that] vaccinations are available from the right people at the right time. There has been a focus from Māori providers on getting accurate information out there before they start vaccinating.”

The public health team was providing support to local school principals around Covid-19 protection measures, including wearing masks at school. The DHB was also supporting additional providers to start delivering covid-19 vaccinations for both adults and children, Allsopp said.

Covid-19 Māori health analyst Rāwiri Taonui said tamariki Māori vaccination numbers throughout the country were concerning and had to be lifted urgently before the omicron variant took hold.

“There’s an impression that omicron causes milder disease and that’s true but the scale of cases is so large that even a small percentage of severe illnesses is quite a serious situation.”

Taonui said MOH data showed 18 percent of tamariki Māori (5-11s) nationwide had their first vaccination compared to 33 percent for all ethnicities. But the gap was much wider due to an undercount of more than 12,000 in the index the MOH used to count vaccinations and the estimated number of tamariki Māori, he said.

“That gap is closer to 25 or 26 percent. A more accurate calculation of the tamariki vaccination is 16.1 percent for Māori compared to 40.9 percent for non-Māori/Pacific.”

Taonui was calling on the government to cut the wait time between first and second child vaccinations from eight weeks to three, and to prioritise the tamariki Māori vaccination rollout to avoid repeating the inequities of the national vaccination programme to date.

Targeting low-decile schools
“This includes targeting low-decile schools with large Māori enrolments,” Taonui said.

“At the moment Māori cases are very low. But at some point there’s going to be a vector by which Omicron begins to make its way into our community and that is likely to come when our children go back to school and begin mixing with kids from other communities and take the virus home.”

The MOH had to release tamariki Māori data to the Whānau Ora Commissioning Agency and other Māori health providers to help them quickly locate children who had yet to be vaccinated, he said.

Delays in child vaccinations now would carry through to second vaccinations. With the current eight-week wait time between vaccinations, a child vaccinated today would not be fully protected until April – well after Omicron has taken hold in the country.

“That’s a real concern. We could get caught out really quite badly,” Taonui said.

“We are starting to see numbers overseas, for instance in the United States and amongst other indigenous groups, where there’s a lot of children getting ill and child hospitalisations are increasing.

“We’re already in a situation where by mid-January tamariki Māori were 53 percent of all under-12 infection and 63 percent of all hospitalisation. If we don’t get the tamariki vaccination rollout right, those numbers could become even worse.”

Local Democracy Reporting is Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air. Published by Asia Pacific Report in collaboration.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz