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New research project will investigate how Pacific children with asthma manage their condition; NZ rates among highest in world

By
Kaniva Staff
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Massey University is launching a three year programme to investigate asthma in Pacific children.

The University has received $971,541 from the Health Research Council of New Zealand to look into how Pacific children manage their asthma

One in nine adults and one in seven children in New Zealand have asthma, one of the highest rates in the world.

It is a disproportionately high among Pacific people and Māori.

According to the Health Quality and Safety Commission, Pacific and Māori children were more likely to be admitted to hospital with asthma than other groups.

Pacific children had the highest admission rate.

Pacific and Māori were three times more likely to be admitted into hospital with asthma than other adults.

Principal investigator Dr Sunia Foliaki from Massey’s Centre for Public Health Research said the study would assess the availability and use of asthma self-management plans.

“Despite the availability of established and effective asthma self-management plans, asthma outcomes and control continue to be poor among Pacific populations in New Zealand,” Dr Foliaki said.

“Pacific people are three times more likely to be hospitalised with asthma than Europeans or other New Zealanders”

She this could be because of poor levels of knowledge about how to manage asthma in its early stages and how to obtain the right  medication.

The study findings would help develop ways to help Pacific people manage their asthma better.

About asthma

According to the Ministry of health, asthma is twice as common in boys as in girls.

Triggers for asthma can include tobacco smoke, wood smoke, house mould, perfumes, paint, chemicals and gases from heaters.

Sufferers can also be allergic to dust mites and pollen.

Asthma episodes can occur quickly and vary in severity and range from mild discomfort to life-threatening episodes where breathing may stop.

Symptoms may include  persistent coughing, particularly at night and after exercise,  breathlessness, wheezing and tightness in the chest.

Symptoms are often worse when it is cold or at night.

Treatment is normally with inhalers.

The main points

  • Massey University is launching a three year programme to investigate asthma in Pacific children.
  • One in nine adults and one in seven children in New Zealand have asthma and it disproportionately high among Pacific people and Māori.

House destroyed in third house fire in Kāmeli in six months

By
Kalino Latu
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A house has been destroyed after a large fire ripped through it early this morning

Children were spotted in the house before the blaze erupted but no injuries reported, Neiafu Town Officer Vava Lapota told Kaniva News.

The Fire Service was at the scene before the blaze was contained.

This was the third house fire in Kameli within six months, he said.

The first house fire was reported in January and another was reported in May.

A fourth blaze was also reported in February but that was a house in Leimatu’a.

Tribunal orders deportation, says enormity of crimes outweighs interests of family

By
Kaniva Staff
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The New Zealand Immigration and Protection Tribunal has ordered a Tongan born New Zealand resident to be deported.

The man was convicted and sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment for four offences of sexual violation by rape.  The offences were committed between 1 August 2014 and 8 December 2014.

He was also convicted of an indecent act upon a girl 12–16, for which he was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment, which was served concurrently.

The minimum term of imprisonment imposed by the judge was five years; the appellant is therefore first eligible for parole on  May 29, 2022.

He has also been convicted of a number of drink driving offences.

A Deportation Liability Notice was signed by a delegated decision maker on  May 14 2018 and served upon the appellant on 2 August 2, 2018.

The appellant lodged an appeal on 24 August 2018.

The appeal required the Tribunal to consider whether the man exceptional circumstances of a humanitarian nature that would make it unjust or unduly harsh for him to be deported from New Zealand.

The Tribunal found that the appellant had exceptional humanitarian circumstances, arising out of his settlement in New Zealand and the interests of his partner and New Zealand-citizen children.

However, the Tribunal found that the deportation would not be unduly harsh or unjust given the seriousness of his offending.  The appeal was declined.

The Tribunal ordered the removal of the period of prohibition on entry to New Zealand that would otherwise apply following the appellant’s deportation.

This would help him apply for a temporary visa in order to visit his children periodically, should they remain in New Zealand.

The Tribunal stressed that the decision on any such visa application would be entirely a matter for Immigration New Zealand and/or the Minister of Immigration.

Third sea cucumber death within a week as searchers recovered body of ‘Oneata diver

By
Kalino Latu
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A diver in Koloa, Vava’u died last night while allegedly diving for sea cucumbers, the Neiafu Town Officer Vāvā Lapota told Kaniva News this morning.

Lapota said the man went with a group of divers before his death was first reported at around 9pm.

An autopsy is expected to be held this afternoon to decide the deceased’s cause of death.

The victim was the third within a week since the ban on sea cucumber fishing had been lifted.

The first two deaths occurred in Tongatapu on July 6 after two divers Ualeni Pomana, 20, and a 37-year-old man went diving for sea cucumbers near ‘Oneata island.

Yesterday Police said a search team found Pomana’s body on Saturday 11, a week after the body of the 37-year-old was found.

Sea cucumber fatalities were highly reported in the past.

“It’s hard when they close the casket”; Covid-19 victim Lelea Tu‘akalau laid to rest

By
Kalino Latu
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Lelea-‘I-Vailahi Tu‘akalau’s family held burial services for his body on Sunday 11 at the Redwood Memorial Estates Cemetery, West Jordan, Salt Lake City.

The 59-year-old father died after weeks of fighting against Covid-19 in Utah.

His wife Lotomo’ua Tu’akalau posted a heartfelt message this morning on her Facebook after the viewing ceremony at Jenkins-Soffe Funeral Home.

““It’s hard when they close the casket,” she wrote.

Lelea was born on February 03, 1961 in Veitongo, Tongatapu, Tonga while his parents Tēvita Kata Tu’akalau and Mele ‘Olive Tuiono Tu’akalau were currently serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, his obituary said.

Lelea served a mission for the LDS Church from 1979-1982. He began his missionary work in the Kingdom of Tonga and two years in Fiji.

He married his wife on August 11, 1994 in Otahuhu, Auckland, New Zealand before they moved to the US.

He is survived by his wife and six children.

As Kaniva News reported previously, his wife Lotomo’ua along with three of their children contracted Covid-19 but they recovered after they were put in isolation.

Tonga fines drivers using phones and not wearing seat belt; some foreign driver license holders allowed on the road

By
Kalino Latu
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Tonga’s Parliament has today passed a new transport legislation requiring drivers and passengers in the front seat to wear seat belt, the Minister of Transport Akosita Lavulavu has posted on Facebook this evening.

Drivers caught using their mobile phones behind the wheel will be fined.

The new legislation would allow visitors who hold either a New Zealand, Australian or United States driver’s licence to drive in the kingdom without applying for a conversion license.

The approval of the law came after the Traffic Bill 2020 was submitted to Parliament in May. It said that heavily tinted front windows in vehicles would also be banned.

The law has made it an offense if Police found somebody leaning or hanging out of windows and to have children in a moving vehicle sitting on someone’s lap.

The law also included one that will see heavy trucks being restricted from certain roads in Central Nuku’alofa.

When will it be our turn? Tongans stranded in Auckland want more information from gov’t

By
Kaniva Staff
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Tongans stranded in Auckland want to know when it will be their turn to go home.

The first 58 Tongans to be flown home have arrived safely in Nuku’alofa from Fiji today.

The return flight had been delayed after a  Covid-19 scare in Fiji. Tonga has remained Covid-19 free so far.

The passengers were escorted to the Tanoa International Dateline Hotel, where they will be kept in quarantine for two weeks.

People who spoke to Kaniva News today in Auckland said all they knew was the first flights from New Zealand were due to start in early August.

They said they wanted more information, but have heard nothing from the government.

More than 1000 people have registered online as wanting to be repatriated.

It is believed about 7000 Tongans are trapped around the world.

The Tongan Government has said that eventually all those needing repatriation to Tonga would be returned.

However, the government said families must be patient and the government was doing its best to ensure the repatriation process was safe.

It is understood a Tongan church has organised a charter flight to bring back missionaries from Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Samoa.

Residents now banned from entering Fua‘amotu airport and Tano‘a hotel for two weeks

By
Kalino Latu
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Tongan residents are now banned from entering the Fua’amotu International Airport and the Tanoa International Dateline Hotel as the kingdom’s first repatriation flight is expected to arrive tomorrow Monday 13 from Fiji.

Only people with jobs and services deemed essential were exempted from the ban which will start at 12am this morning Monday 13 until 10am on Wednesday 29, a statement co-signed by Police Commissioner Steve Caldwell and Chief of Defence Staff, Brigadier Lord Fielakepa said.

Tonga’s first repatriation flight to bring home more than 50 residents stranded in Fiji during the Covid-19 pandemic was expected to arrive yesterday afternoon, Saturday July 11, but it has been postponed until Monday.

The military will help police guard the venues.

The passengers would remain at the Tanoa for 14 days before being tested once more and then released.

More than 7000 of Tongans were thought to be stranded overseas by Covid-19 restrictions.

Prime Minister Pōhiva Tu’i’onetoa told Kaniva News last week the flight from Fiji was expected to bring some medical staff and their families as well as Tongan students in Fiji.

Hon. Tu’i’onetoa said the repatriation flights from New Zealand would start no later than the first week of August.

Tonga has remained free of the virus so far.

Kaniva mediawatch July 10, 2020

By
Kaniva Staff
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Tongan player fined

Tongan international Addin-Fonua Blake has been fined Aus$20,000 for abusing referee Grant Atkins after his team lost to Newcastle.

NRL acting CEO Andrew Abdo said he would recommend that all abuse and intimidation of match officials be referred to the games’ judiciary committee.

The Manly prop Fonua-Blake has already been handed a two-match suspension for bad behaviour.

The NRL said that during his tirade against Atkins he used “a derogatory term for the disabled community.”

The money from the fine will be used by Wheelchair Rugby League Australia to buy new wheelchairs.

E-waste

Tongans produce 3.1 kg of e-waste per year according to a new report.

The UN’s Global E-waste Monitor 2020 said people in Samoa and Tonga produced 3.1 kilograms per person, while in Fiji and PNG, the figure was just 1.5 kilograms.

Common e-waste items include old mobile phones, batteries, TVs, computers and tablets.

The report said that Australia and other donor partners may contribute to some of the e-waste in Pacific nations, with equipment such as computers donated when they had reached their end-of-life there.

The UN report ranked Oceania as the second highest region, per capita, of e-waste,

New rugby bid

A second group has applied to be recognised as Tonga’s recognized national rugby league governing body, the Fiji Times has reported.

The Suva-based newspaper the group, which has not been named, has applied for full membership of the International Rugby League (IRL).

The Asia Pacific Rugby League said it would review the application.

The second application was announced the day after Tonga Ma’a Tonga Rugby League applied for IRL membership last week.

The former governing body of rugby league, Tonga National Rugby League (TNRL), which was expelled from the IRL membership in March 2020, has lodged an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

American yacht

An American family have been denied to Tonga  after they left New Zealand, apparently because it was too cold.

The Whitaker family have been trying to circumnavigate their world, but are now held at Minerva Reef, watched by a Tongan patrol boat.

The family left New Zealand on June 29, apparently complaining that it was too cold.

As Kaniva News reported last week, the Tongan patrol boat Neiafu is patrolling the reef.

Vaccine

The absence of COVID 19 in large parts of the Pacific has been largely down to luck, according to an Australian academic.

Deputy Director of the Burnet Medical Research Institute, Associate Professor David Anderson, said that when a Covi-19 vaccine was available the World Health Organisation planned to distribute it countries with fragile health systems like the Pacific islands.

Dr Anderson said vaccination was vital, as last year’s measles outbreak in Samoa showed.

“The spread of measles in Somalia when their vaccine coverage dropped, showed dramatically that there is no reason why a respiratory infection won’t take hold in Pacific communities,” he said.

The blessings of being a small island nation – but could danger come in by the back door?

By
Philip Cass
-

Kaniva News Commentary

So far Tonga has not had a single confirmed case of Covid-19.

There have  been a number of suspected cases and the government quite rightly paused its plan  to fly citizens back from Fiji when  there was a scare there earlier this week.

However, so far Tonga has escaped the deadly virus that  has killed more people in  America than the entire population of Tonga.

It is chilling to think that while Tonga’s 103,000 citizens have remained safe, 136,000 Americans have died.

The lack of infection in Tonga can be attributed to a number of factors. Firstly, the government of  Hon. Pōhiva Tuʻiʻonetoa took the issue seriously and deployed the kingdom’s limited resources as strategically best it could with the help of international support.

Secondly, people flying back to Tonga have tended to come from island nations which have had very low infection rates, particularly New Zealand where Prime Minister Jacinda Adern led a carefully controlled lockdown to control the spread of the disease.

Thirdly, Tonga is made up of a group of islands and it has been relatively easy to shut down air travel, as it has with the Pacific’s other islands.

However, two pieces of news mean that it is too early to relax and that Tonga needs to be careful

Researchers have announced that Covid-19 has mutated, and the strain now dominating the world may be up to six times more infectious.

Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in the US, Dr Anthony Fauci, said while the findings had not been confirmed, they could be significant.

“I think the data is showing that there is a single mutation that actually makes the virus be able to replicate better, and maybe have high viral loads,” he said.

New research also indicates the mutation could jump between humans more easily.

As long as returning passengers on repatriation flights are checked and quarantined when they arrive in Nuku’alofa, Tonga should remain safe.

Back door

However, airports are not the only borders.

While  being an island  nation has its advantages, it does mean that every island is a potential border – and a potential back door to Tonga.

The kingdom joined other island nations in turning away cruise ships at the beginning of the pandemic.

This saved them from the disaster that happened when infected passengers from the cruise ship Ruby Princess were allowed ashore in Sydney.

Sadly, ship-borne epidemics are not unknown in Polynesia.

In 1918, during the world influenza pandemic,  the steamer Talune from Auckland called into Apia and the New Zealand military government allowed its passengers ashore.

As a result, 8000 people – one fifth of Samoa’s population – people died.

As Kaniva News reported earlier this month, an American yacht, the Zatara, was blocked from entering Tongan waters

Lt Commander Siua ‘Ika said the Tongan navy was not initially aware the Zatara was on its way.

It was intercepted  by the patrol boat Neiafu, which was patrolling Minerva Reef.

It is believed several yachts are waiting around Tonga’s many coastlines waiting to be allowed in.

While nobody is suggesting that any of the passengers and crew are infected or pose any threat to Tonga, the real concern is that the navy was unaware of the arrival of the Zatara.

Many yachts sail through the central Pacific islands every year, some of them smuggling drugs or bent on other crimes. Nobody knows how many have remained undetected.

As a recent report found, while air security has seen significant improvements, controlling  seaborne activity is significantly harder. The area covers millions of  square kilometres and  inter‐country and agency coordination is necessary to compensate for the shortage of patrol vessels, surveillance aircraft and operating costs.

As conditions continue to deteriorate in the United States and other countries – and as a mutated virus poses a potential new hazard – nobody can tell when somebody may try to flee the infection by sea or where they may try to come ashore.

The risk of this may be small, but six months ago the risk that the world would grind to a halt because of a virus seemed even smaller.

Being a nation of islands has helped to keep Tonga safe from Covid-19, but it could also provide a back door for a mutated virus.  Tonga must remain vigilant and this time the  navy could be in the frontline of the defence against the pandemic.

 

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