USP Electronic Research Repository

Health issues in Pacific Island countries: does issues of risk, smallness and vulnerability matter?

Reddy, Mahendra (2007) Health issues in Pacific Island countries: does issues of risk, smallness and vulnerability matter? The Asia Pacific Economic Journal, 5 (1). pp. 21-34. ISSN NA

Full text not available from this repository.

Abstract

The Pacific Islands Countries face similar development challenges despite notable differences in history, culture and resource endowment. Apart from the common challenge of promoting economic growth, the PICs are also concerned about a key factor of production that underpin the functioning of its labour market and that is health and nutrition of its population. The health and nutritional challenges facing the PICs, though similar, pose a serious threat to some countries. Lifestyle diseases and HIV/AIDS are a major threat to the Pacific Islands population, in particular for Papua New Guinea, where HIV/AIDS infection rates are the highest. In this paper, we provide a profile of the PICs health and nutritional challenges and examine how their special features of smallness and vulnerability provides challenges and opportunities to address the problems. We argue that while pursuing the standard path for economic growth, the PICs will have to go a step further and build resilience in the economies to deal with the vulnerabilities that they face. A number of policy measures are suggested to build resilience of health and nutritional aspects of PICs economies.

Item Type: Journal Article
Subjects: H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General)
Divisions: Faculty of Business and Economics (FBE) > School of Economics
Depositing User: Ms Mereoni Camailakeba
Date Deposited: 26 May 2007 00:50
Last Modified: 17 Jul 2012 08:47
URI: http://repository.usp.ac.fj/id/eprint/299
UNSPECIFIED

Actions (login required)

View Item View Item