Health Briefs
Health Briefs
French Polynesia
A dengue fever epidemic that started in Bora Bora, French Polynesia and then spread to Tahiti and Moorea had, as of mid-May, hit the Tuamotu Archipelago. Five new cases of the mosquito-borne disease were detected on Rangiroa and Makemo islands. As of April, an estimated 3,200 people had been affected. Meanwhile, following major public health campaigns to clean up mosquito-breeding sites, Republic of Palau health officials said recently that the dengue outbreak that hit that western Pacific island group in late 2000 was now under control.
Marshall Islands
Six people died in the span of a few days before Christmas, but with a fast response the cholera outbreak on Ebeye Island in the Marshall Islands was brought under control by January. Ministry of Health-imposed restrictions on travel to and from Ebeye, were lifted in April and the outbreak declared over. Officials in Pohnpei, in the Federated States of Micronesia, also recently declared that the state’s battle with a cholera epidemic, which started in April 2000, was over.
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Federated States
of Micronesia
The first reported case of AIDS in a person who had never traveled outside the FSM was a banner headline story in mid-May in the Kaselehlie Press, Pohnpei’s recently launched bi-weekly independent paper. The FSM citizen with full blown AIDS has reportedly confirmed more than 20 contacts. The individual is believed to have been infected with the HIV virus from a person who died several years ago in the FSM.
American Samoa
Teen pregnancy continues to be a problem in American Samoa, where
health officials report that of 208 babies born to teenagers in the past two years, 26 were the teen mothers’ second delivery. LBJ Medical Center Social Services director Leuga Turner said that low self-esteem and drugs and alcohol all contribute to teen pregnancies.
Northern Mariana Islands
The CNMI is asking retired local nurses to return to service to alleviate the staff shortage in the Commonwealth Health Center. The health department has also "borrowed" nurses from the Rota and Tinian Public Health Centers to ease the burden of nurses working round-the-clock at the Saipan hospital. About 200 nurses are needed to fully operate the CHC, but only 160 are now employed.
