Our work in Guam
(From left) Healthcare workers Lily Mae Concepcion, Teofila Cruz, and Ann Rios of Guam’s Department of Public Health and Social Services and Department of Education prepares COVID-19 vaccines for homebound patients in the village of Sinajana.
The WHO Representative Office in the South Pacific, located in Suva, Fiji, operates under the umbrella of the Western Pacific regional office, and our role is to act as a catalyst and advocate for action at all levels, from local to global, on health issues of public concern. We work together with a broad spectrum of partners from all sectors of society, WHO is involved in a host of closely related public health activities; including research, evaluation, awareness raising and resource mobilization.
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Pacific Islands–WHO multi-country cooperation strategy 2024–2029
The Pacific Islands–WHO Multi-country Cooperation Strategy 2024–2029, or MCCS, developed by the World Health Organization (WHO) through a consultative process involving 21 Pacific Island countries and areas (PICs), outlines WHO’s comprehensive and tailored medium-term support plan in the Pacific. This summary provides an overview of the MCCS, highlighting its alignment with regional and global health strategies.
Health system and health situation
The health system in Guam is governed by the Department of Public Health and Social Services, which oversees public health programmes, primary care clinics and health regulations. Key health challenges include high rates of NCDs including diabetes, obesity, heart disease, stroke, cancer, and high fetal, infant and maternal mortality. Communicable diseases, including sporadic outbreaks, also require robust prevention and control measures for respiratory diseases (COVID-19, influenza, respiratory syncytial syndrome), dengue, shigellosis and leptospirosis, along with vaccine-preventable diseases. Guam has high rates of other communicable diseases including tuberculosis, leprosy, hepatitis and some sexually transmitted diseases such as chlamydia and syphilis. Addressing health-care-associated infections and multidrug-resistant organisms also is a priority.
Health disparities exist due to uneven access to quality care, especially in remote areas, for example due to lack of transportation to a health facility. Last-mile gaps in reaching underserved and high-risk groups persist, particularly for low-income Chamorros and other Pacific islanders. Strengthening health infrastructure, ensuring medication affordability and health-care access, addressing the social determinants of health, boosting health literacy, and enhancing disease surveillance systems are vital to improve population health outcomes. Priorities include expanding community-based NCD screening and management, implementing culturally appropriate health promotion campaigns, increasing health worker numbers in rural areas and for underserved and high-risk populations, improving infection control in healthcare facilities, boosting vaccination rates, being proactive in detection of infectious diseases and potential outbreaks, and establishing an interconnected disease surveillance network.