PINA

Several Pacific Island countries have ruled out attending the COP 26 global climate change talks next month citing challenges around COVID-19 restrictions, quarantine and travel to the summit. Both Kiribati and Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) have announced they will be unable to attend the event in Glasgow. Pacific Island nations have been a driving force behind global climate action, and...

Samoan Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mataafa is calling for the public’s continuous support for the Government’s vaccination programme to ensure our country reaches herd immunity. Fiame said as of Wednesday last week, close to 95 percent of the eligible population have received their first doses of the Astra Zeneca vaccine, and close to 60 percent have completed their second doses. “I...

Papua New Guinea Health Minister Jelta Wong has appealed for Members of Parliament to put aside party and personal politics and focus on the COVID-19 crisis. Speaking in Parliament this week, Wong advocated for MPs to unify and help combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Wong said “This is also a time when we need to put any party or personal politics aside...

Deaths from tuberculosis – one of the top infectious killers in the world - have increased for the first time in a decade, as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Thursday. New data from the UN health agency highlighted how years of global progress in tackling the preventable disease had been “reversed”...

Ten provinces in Papua New Guinea have been classified as “high-risk”, requiring that they implement measures which suits them best to address the Covid-19 surge. They are Morobe, Chimbu, Enga, Hela, Jiwaka, Southern Highlands, Western, West Sepik, Western Highlands and Eastern Highlands. National Pandemic Response Controller David Manning told The National that the 10 provinces would have to submit to his...

Fiji's Ministry of Health and Medical Services is expecting the Pfizer vaccine, earmarked to be administered on children aged 12 to 14, to arrive into the country by Monday. Minister for Health and Medical Services, Dr Ifereimi Waqainabete, confirmed the proposed arrival date of the 100,000 doses while visiting the Western Division with Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama Wednesday. Dr Waqainabete said...

Fiji Airways Aviation Academy played a key role in ensuring the national airline operated during this pandemic. Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama said the multimillion dollar facility ensured pilots were kept airworthy and cabin crew were able to do their in service training. Bainimarama highlighted that through this, Fiji Airways was able to bring in not only vaccines but also operate repatriation...

The 252 people reported to have died of the Covid-19 around the country were all unvaccinated, according to Papua New Guinea Health and HIV/Aids Minister Jelta Wong. He added that 99 percent of Covid-19 patients in hospitals around the country were also unvaccinated. He told Parliament that “100 percent of the patients are in critical care and requiring oxygen”. “Official cumulative numbers...

By Nic Maclellan With anti-nuclear sentiment on the rise across the islands, the Morrison government’s nuclear submarine ambitions have undercut the prime minister’s claim to be part of the Pacific family. “The sense of a regional identity, being Pacific islanders, is felt most acutely in the movement towards a nuclear free and independent Pacific.” So wrote the late Epeli Hau’ofa,...

A deal to provide more than $1.5 billion (US$1.1 billion) in taxpayer money to help Telstra buy telecommunications assets in the Pacific is weeks away from being sealed. Senior officials in Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s department and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade have been discussing the prospect of the Australian telco giant buying Digicel Pacific, owned by Irish...