Honolulu, HI - The efforts of the Pacific Island Health Officers’ Association (PIHOA) to create roadmaps to implement early warning systems (EWS) in the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI), and the Republic of Palau, have received almost $500,000 in additional funding from the Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs (OES) at the U.S. Department of State (DOS).  

Funding will be used to share the current countries' EWS roadmaps with other Pacific Island Countries and Territories (PICTs), including the use of predictive models as operational tools. PIHOA, in collaboration with local health and vector staff, will hold in-person workshops and remote consultations with other PICTs to increase capacity in the Pacific region. 

Through this extended Cooperative Agreement with the DOS, Palau’s Ministry of Health and Human Services (MHHS) partnered with PIHOA in 2022 to improve vector prevention and outbreak preparedness by implementing EWS with stakeholders and the community. 

In support of this effort and at the invitation from Palau’s Minister of Health and Human Services, Mr. Gaafar Uherbelau, PIHOA Technical Support Consultant, Ms. Rosanna Yoon Rabago, will be attending the Palau MHHS 2023 Health Summit that will be held from February 20 – 24, 2023, to conduct a presentation on Early Warning Systems Against Mosquito-Borne Diseases.

Ms. Rabago will meet with several stakeholders during her travels, including the Palau MHHS management from public health, epidemiology, and the Department of Environmental Health, to gain insight and feedback that will improve the usefulness and availability of early warning systems in Palau. 

For further information, please visit PIHOA’s webpage at www.pihoa.org or visit us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/PIHOASecretariat.