Pacific
p. 19 · Read in the full issue
children
THIS year’s conference theme was ‘The State of Pacific Children’. The conference heard the keynote address from Bikenibeu Paeniu on the theme, watched a video, heard from two children and a few other speakers and then were about to move on to the next order of business. But a timely and courageous objection from PNG representative Gabriel Dusava stopped the meeting in its tracks.
He basically said the conference shouldn’t just get the item out of the way, they should spend a lot more time on it both at the conference and when they return home.
Dusava’s action should be applauded given the problems and special needs of the Pacific children.
For example 12,000 Pacific island children die every year before their first birthday, 7000 more between their first and fifth birthdays a total of nearly 50 per day. They die primarily from causes which are preventable through low cost pri mary health care measures. □