Our work in Tokelau
The WHO Representative Office for Samoa, American Samoa, Cook Islands, Niue and Tokelau is located in Apia, Samoa. It operates under the umbrella of the WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific in Manilla, Philippines. The role of the Office 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, and are involved in a host of closely related public health activities including technical cooperation, capacity building, advocacy and awareness raising, research, and evaluation.
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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
Tokelau’s isolated geography presents unique health-care delivery challenges that require innovative solutions like telemedicine and strengthened inter-island transportation. Tokelau is like other Pacific island countries and areas with a rising incidence of NCDs, and NCD risk behaviours weigh heavily on current health system. Tokelau maintains zero rates for communicable diseases, such as HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis, and retains almost 100% vaccine coverage rates. The priority is to maintain vector control and reduce rates of STIs.
With a small health-care workforce and limited resources, building local capacity and sustainable financing models are crucial strategic health priorities. Tokelau is vulnerable to climate change impacts, necessitating integrated adaptation measures.
Tokelau health strategic priorities remain the same:
- health and emergencies
- NCDs and other related morbidity and mortality
- strengthening health systems through reorientation of service delivery
- emergence and re-emergence of communicable diseases
- addressing environmental health challenges.
Overall, Tokelau requires strategies that leverage data-driven decision-making, health workforce development, cultural sensitivity and climate resilience to uplift the health system and address the population’s significant health needs given its remote Pacific island context.
Publications
The Pacific Islands–WHO Multi-country Cooperation Strategy 2024–2029, or MCCS, developed by the World Health Organization (WHO) through a...
Fifteenth Pacific Health Ministers Meeting, Nuku’alofa, Tonga, 20-22 September 2023: meeting report
The Fifteenth Pacific Health Ministers Meeting brought together health leaders from across the Pacific, hosted by the Government of the Kingdom of Tonga...
Report of the Regional Director : the work of WHO in the Western Pacific Region, 1 July 2022 - 30 June...
Covering the period from July 2022 to June 2023, this Report highlights how WHO in the Western Pacific Region has worked to turn the hard lessons of the...
Report of the Regional Director : the work of WHO in the Western Pacific Region, 1 July 2021 - 30 June...
This report, covering the period from July 2021 to June 2022, highlights how WHO continued supporting countries and areas in the Western Pacific Region...
The Pacific Island Countries and Areas–WHO Cooperation Strategy 2018–2022 (the “Cooperation Strategy”) documents the medium-term...
All countries with a WHO office have a Country Cooperation Strategy (CCS). CCSs are flexible to align with the national health planning cycle (generally...
Health information systems in the Pacific at a glance 2016
This report provides a 2016 snapshot of the status of national health information systems (HIS) in the Pacific. The Meeting on Strengthening Health Information...
WHO Country Cooperation Strategy 2018-2022: Tokelau
The Country Cooperation Strategy (CCS) is WHO’s strategic framework to guide the Organization’s work in and with a country. It responds to...
