Health in Tuvalu

Last updated

As in much of Oceania, obesity is a major health issue in Tuvalu with 65% of men and 71% of women being overweight. [1] In 2012 the birth rate on the islands was estimated at 23 per 1,000 people and life expectancy was 65. [2]

Contents

The cuisine of Tuvalu is based on the staple of pulaka, taro, breadfruit, bananas and coconut and the many species of fish found in the ocean and lagoons of the atolls. The Tuvaluans benefited from the canned food supplied by the American forces during the Second World War, although the change in diet continued after the war, which resulted in long-term impacts on health. Tuvaluans adopted a diet that includes high levels of corned beef, rice and sugar, consumed even when fish and traditional vegetables are available. [3] The change of diet to include more processed foods is believed to contribute to increasing levels of diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular diseases among Tuvaluans. [4]

Medical problems in Tuvalu

In the 19th and 20th century, after the beginning of commerce with Europe and the United States, the primary medical problem in the islands was tuberculosis. [3] Tuberculosis has declined from an average 36 cases per year to 19 per year from 1975 to 2009. [5] [8] In 2016 the incidence of tuberculosis was reported as continuing to decline with average of 15 new cases of sputum positive infections every year. [9]

Since the late 20th century the biggest health problem in Tuvalu, and the leading cause of death, has been heart disease, [5] which is closely followed by diabetes [10] and high blood pressure. [5] In 2016 the majority of deaths resulted from cardiac diseases, with diabetes mellitus, hypertension, obesity, and cerebral-vascular disease among the other causes of death. [9]

In 2014, the World Health Organization confirmed an outbreak of dengue fever in Tuvalu. The illness has re emerged in several Pacific Island countries after a period of twenty years. [11] A further outbreak of dengue fever occurred in 2019, from 25 March to 5 July 496 suspected and 226 confirmed cases were reported. 54 cases required hospitalisation from which 2 children died. [12]

Healthcare

The Princess Margaret Hospital on Funafuti is the only hospital in Tuvalu and the primary provider of medical services. The Tuvaluan medical staff at the hospital in 2011 comprised the Director of Health & Surgeon, the Chief Medical Officer Public Health, an anaesthetist, a paediatric medical officer and an obstetrics and gynaecology medical officer. Allied health staff include two radiographers, two pharmacists, three laboratory technicians, two dieticians and 13 nurses with specialised training in fields including surgical nursing, anaesthesia nursing/ICU, paediatric nursing and midwifery. It also employs a dentist. The Department of Health also employs nine or ten nurses on the outer islands to provide general nursing and midwifery services. [13] [3]

Non-government organizations

There are no private formal medical services available in Tuvalu. [14] Non-government organizations provide health services, such as the Tuvalu Red Cross Society; Fusi Alofa (the care and rehabilitation of disabled children); [15] the Tuvalu Family Health Association (training and support on sexual and reproductive health); and the Tuvalu Diabetics Association (training and support on diabetes). [14]

Related Research Articles

Tuvalu Country in the Polynesian subregion of Oceania in the Pacific Ocean

Tuvalu is an island country in the Polynesian subregion of Oceania in the Pacific Ocean. Its islands are situated about midway between Hawaii and Australia. They lie east-northeast of the Santa Cruz Islands, northeast of Vanuatu, southeast of Nauru, south of Kiribati, west of Tokelau, northwest of Samoa and Wallis and Futuna, and north of Fiji. Tuvalu is composed of three reef islands and six atolls. They are spread out between the latitude of 5° and 10° south and between the longitude of 176° and 180°. They lie west of the International Date Line. Tuvalu has a population of 10,507. The total land area of the islands of Tuvalu is 26 square kilometres (10 sq mi).

Demographics of Tuvalu

This article is about the demographic features of the population of Tuvalu, including the age structure, ethnicity, education level, life expectancy, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.

Vaitupu Atoll in Tuvalu

Vaitupu is the largest atoll of the nation of Tuvalu. It is located at 7.48 degrees south and 178.83 degrees west. There are 1,061 people living on 5.6 square kilometres with the main village being Asau.

Niutao Reef Island in Tuvalu

Niutao is a reef island in the northern part of Tuvalu. It is one of the nine districts (islands) of Tuvalu. It is also one of the three districts that consist of only one island - not counting the three islets inside the closed lagoon. Niutao has a population of 582.

Health in Vietnam

Life expectancy has risen by two years for males and females in Vietnam between 2000 and 2012. This is half of the average rise in life expectancy for other parts of the world during the same time period.

Asau is a village in Tuvalu. It is the second largest village in Tuvalu and has a population of 650 (2009). Asau is on the island of Vaitupu.

Cuba–Tuvalu relations Bilateral relations

Relations between Tuvalu and the Republic of Cuba are recent, having developed in the 2000s (decade). Like other countries in Oceania, Tuvalu is a beneficiary of Cuban medical aid; bilateral relations between Funafuti and Havana must be viewed within the scope of Cuba's regional policy in Oceania.

Sport in Tuvalu

Sport is an important part of Tuvaluan culture, which sporting culture is based on traditional games and athletic activities and the adoption of some of the major international sports of the modern era.

2011 Tuvalu drought

The 2011 Tuvalu drought was a period of severe drought afflicting Tuvalu, a South Pacific island country of approximately 10,500 people, in the latter half of 2011. A state of emergency was declared on September 28, 2011; with rationing of available fresh-water. The La Niña event that caused the drought ended in April–May 2012. By August 2012 the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) Conditions indicated that the tropical Pacific Ocean was on the brink of an El Niño event.

Life expectancy in Nicaragua at birth was 72 years for men and 78 for women in 2016. While communicable diseases such as dengue, chikungunya, and Zika continue to persist as national health concerns, there is a rising public health threat of non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer, which were diseases previously thought to be more relevant and problematic for more developed nations. Additionally, in the women's health sector, high rates of adolescent pregnancy and cervical cancer continue to persist as national concerns.

Tuvaluan cuisine

The cuisine of Tuvalu, a state in the Central Pacific (Oceania), is based on the staple of coconut and the many species of fish found in the ocean and the lagoons of the atolls of Tuvalu. Pulaka,, or swamp taro, is an important source of carbohydrates. Rice now forms an important part of the diet. Coconut is used in different forms with coconut water, coconut milk and the flesh of the coconut being used to flavour dishes. Various desserts made on the islands include coconut and coconut milk, instead of animal milk.

Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH) on Funafuti atoll in Tuvalu is the only hospital in the country, and the primary provider of medical services for all the islands of Tuvalu. The hospital is located about 1.3 kilometres north from the centre of Funafuti on Fongafale islet.

Women in Tuvalu

Women in Tuvalu continue to maintain a traditional Polynesian culture within a predominantly Christian society. Tuvaluan cultural identity is sustained through an individual's connection to their home island. In the traditional community system in Tuvalu, each family has its own task, or salanga, to perform for the community. The skills of a family are passed on from parents to children. The women of Tuvalu participate in the traditional music of Tuvalu and in the creation of the art of Tuvalu including using cowrie and other shells in traditional handicrafts. There are opportunities of further education and paid employment with non-government organisations (NGOs) and government enterprises, education and health agencies being the primary opportunities for Tuvaluan women.

Art of Tuvalu

The Art of Tuvalu has traditionally been expressed in the design of clothing and traditional handicrafts such as the decoration of mats and fans. Tuvaluan clothing was traditionally made from Fala leaves.

Agriculture in Tuvalu is based on coconut and swamp taro, , which is similar to taro but "with bigger leaves and larger, coarser roots"; taro is also cultivated in Tuvalu.

In October 2013, there was an outbreak of Zika fever in French Polynesia, the first outbreak of several Zika outbreaks across Oceania. With 8,723 cases reported, it was the largest outbreak of Zika fever before the outbreak in the Americas that began in April 2015. An earlier outbreak occurred on Yap Island in the Federated States of Micronesia in 2007, but it is thought that the 2013–2014 outbreak involved an independent introduction of the Zika virus from Southeast Asia. Investigators suggested that the outbreaks of mosquito-borne diseases in the Pacific from 2012 to 2014 were "the early stages of a wave that will continue for several years", particularly because of their vulnerability to infectious diseases stemming from isolation and immunologically naive populations.

Tuvalu at the 2016 Summer Olympics Sporting event delegation

Tuvalu competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. The country's participation at Rio de Janeiro marked its third consecutive appearance at the Summer Olympics since its debut in 2008. The delegation included a single track and field athlete: sprinter Etimoni Timuani. Etimoni was also the nation's flagbearer in the Parade of Nations. He did not progress past the first round of his men's 100 metres competition.

Nese Ituaso-Conway

Nese Ituaso-Conway is a public servant in Tuvalu. She was the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Public Works in 2020 and was the Permanent Secretary of the Office of the Prime Minister of Tuvalu in 2018. She was previously the Director of Public Health at Princess Margaret Hospital (Funafuti), which operates satellite health clinics on each of the 9 Islands of Tuvalu.

Te ano is a team sport played with 2 balls in which two teams face each other about 7 metres (23 ft) apart on a malae. Two balls are used simultaneously in the game with each ball being about 12 centimetres (4.7 in) in diameter, It is a traditional game played in Tuvalu, and also in the Pacific Islands of Tokelau & Sikaiana.

References

  1. ↑ "The Impact of Chronic Disease in Tuvalu" (PDF). World Health Organization. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
  2. ↑ "Health in Tuvalu". Commonwealth Health. 2018. Retrieved 25 November 2018.
  3. 1 2 3 Resture, Setapu Asenati (March 2010). "TE MAAMA PALA: Continuity and change in coping with Tuberculosis in Tuvalu" (PDF). A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Masters of Arts in History – The University of Auckland, N.Z. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 October 2013. Retrieved 16 March 2013.
  4. ↑ Panapa, Tufoua (2012). "Ethnographic Research on Meanings and Practices of Health in Tuvalu: A Community Report" (PDF). Report to the Tuvaluan Ministries of Health and Education: Ph D Candidate Centre for Development Studies - "Transnational Pacific Health through the Lens of Tuberculosis" Research Group. Department of Anthropology, The University of Auckland, N.Z. Retrieved 16 March 2013.
  5. 1 2 3 "2007 University Student Exchange Programme- Fiji and Tuvalu" (PDF). Saga University-Asia/Pacific Cultural Centre for UNESCO (ACCU). 9–25 March 2008. Retrieved 16 March 2013.
  6. ↑ "Population of communities in Tuvalu". world-statistics.org. 11 April 2012. Retrieved 20 March 2016.
  7. ↑ "Population of communities in Tuvalu". Thomas Brinkhoff. 11 April 2012. Retrieved 20 March 2016.
  8. ↑ The population of Tuvalu was 9,561 at 2002 census and the population at the 2012 census was 10,640. [6] [7]
  9. 1 2 "Global AIDS Progress Report of Tuvalu" (PDF). Ministry of Health Tuvalu. 2016. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
  10. ↑ Walker, Lawrence Zdenek. "Elective Report April-May 2012" (PDF). Retrieved 16 March 2013.
  11. ↑ "WHO says dengue now in Tuvalu". Radio NZ International. 29 May 2014. Retrieved 31 May 2014.
  12. ↑ "Dengue-1 Outbreak, Tuvalu: Situational Report 25th March - 4th July 2019 (Epidemic Week 27) (Report Date: Wednesday, July 10, 2019)". ReliefWeb. 25 July 2019. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
  13. ↑ Panapa, Tufoua (2012). "Ethnographic Research on Meanings and Practices of Health in Tuvalu: A Community Report" (PDF). Report to the Tuvaluan Ministries of Health and Education: Ph D Candidate Centre for Development Studies – "Transnational Pacific Health through the Lens of Tuberculosis" Research Group. Department of Anthropology, The University of Auckland, N.Z. Retrieved 6 January 2018.
  14. 1 2 Knapman, Bruce; Ponton, Malcolm & Hunt, Colin (2002). TUVALU 2002 Economic and Public Sector Review. Asian Development Bank. pp. 134–136. ISBN   9789715614597 . Retrieved 16 March 2013.
  15. ↑ Corlew, Laura (2012). "The cultural impacts of climate change: sense of place and sense of community in Tuvalu, a country threatened by sea level rise" (PDF). Ph D dissertation, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.