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The 77th PIHOA Executive Board Meeting Recap,
Part 4: The Marshall Islands Highlights Critical Achievements and Innovations in Public Health
| | Majuro, Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) - Day 4 of the 77th PIHOA Executive Board Meeting (EBM) featured an afternoon of innovative projects from the RMI Ministry of Health and Human Services (MOHHS), including a special report on the RMI’s nuclear legacy. | | |
The RMI MOHHS began by outlining their efforts to strengthen the RMI’s public health infrastructure, workforce, health information management systems, and organizational capabilities through support from CDC’s Public Health Infrastructure Grant (PHIG), with particular focus on strengthening the RMI’s 50 remote atoll Neighboring Island Health Centers (NIHC) workforce and upgrading their information, communication, and technology (ICT) infrastructure for improved telehealth/medicine consults, patient data management, and surveillance.
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Installation of Starlink and solar power units, followed by on-site training, has enabled the NIHCs to remotely access and utilize the RMI MOHHS’ central Ministry Health Information Systems (MHIS) in real time, and expanded their ability to deliver essential and emergency services through telehealth/medicine consultations with specialist providers based in the urban center of Majuro.
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Their presentation underscored a central theme that context-appropriate built infrastructure, aligned with affordable and field-deployable ICT ecosystem development and targeted workforce training, contributes to achieving significant progress towards building a resilient health system capable of serving every Marshallese family, regardless of remoteness or geography.
| | The RMI MOHHS’ successes in strengthening the public infrastructure have been further built upon with the RMI’s concerted investments in early childhood development (ECD) services and extension of these services to the remote, outer-islands and NIHCs. Funded by the World Bank, the RMI’s ECD initiative has been successfully integrating early childhood services into rural health programs across a number of NIHCs, with on-going work to strengthen healthcare worker competencies for enhanced early detection and reporting of childhood developmental challenges, and delivery of ECD health, nutrition, and education support services to remote, outer-island communities across the RMI. | | |
The RMI MOHHS concluded their session with a presentation from the RMI’s National Nuclear Commission, who shared the RMI’s nuclear past, a tragic legacy woven into the fabric of Marshallese history, identity, and health outcomes. The testimony shared was deeply poignant, recounting generations of trauma, displacement, radiation exposure, and ongoing health and environmental consequences that continue to affect communities today.
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The RMI Nuclear Commission and MOHHS expressed their gratitude to the PIHOA leadership for their letter of support that enabled the RMI and other nations to successfully seek global endorsement at the 2025 World Health Assembly on Resolution WHA78.28 – Effects of Nuclear War on Public Health. The presentation concluded with a call for ongoing advocacy and commitment to mitigate the impacts of nuclear testing on health in the RMI and the Pacific, and for peace to prevail to prevent nuclear warfare and safeguard human life, society, and dignity.
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This presentation grounded the entire meeting in a shared accord of why regional advocacy, partnership, and collective action remain essential, and a reminder that public health is not just measured in programs or indicators, but in the lived experiences of people whose history continues to shape their health outcomes over generations.
Through these presentations, the RMI MOHHS demonstrated resilience, innovation, and an unwavering commitment to strengthen the RMI’s public health infrastructure and service delivery capabilities, improve childhood development outcomes, and be a regional Pacific leader for nuclear justice and health.
| | This work is fully supported by funds made available from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through PIHOA’s Partnership Cooperative Agreement OT21-2101: Strengthening the Public Health Systems in the US-Affiliated Pacific Islands. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by CDC/HHS, or the U.S. Government. | | |
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About the Pacific Islands Health Officers' Association
PIHOA's mission is to improve the health and well-being of the USAPIs by providing, through consensus, a unified, credible voice on health issues of regional significance. Established in 1986, PIHOA is governed by and represents the collective interests of the USAPI health leadership from American Samoa, Federated States of Micronesia, Guam, Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau.
PIHOA’s Secretariat, comprised of executive, administrative, and technical staff and consultants, provides support to the USAPI health agencies and leadership in the following priority areas: health workforce development; epidemiology and surveillance; health systems performance improvement; laboratory services; regional health leadership and policy advocacy; Pacific health security; and, partnership engagement and coordination. PIHOA has two offices in Honolulu, Hawai’i, and Hagåtña, Guam.
Media Contact
Billie Hiraishi
Communications Officer
billieh@pihoa.org
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