rp21 situational analysis - Pacific Health Voices

Health and development
The United Nations Development Programme
notes that Samoa has been recommended to
graduate from least developed country (LDC)
status in 2010. 635 In 2004 Samoa was ranked
75th of 177 countries in the UNDP’s Human
Development Index. According to the United
Nations, it was ranked 77th in 2007–08. 636
In terms of other indicators, the UNDP reports
a high level of literacy at approximately 98.6
per cent of the total population aged 15 and
over in 2005. 637
AusAID reports that health indicators for
Samoa show high rates of immunisation coverage,
increasing life expectancy, and declining
infant mortality and fertility. However, it
also reports poor health care services in rural
areas, endemic obesity and high levels of noncommunicable
and lifestyle diseases, e.g. Type
II diabetes, heart disease and hypertension. 638
The non- communicable diseases program of
the Secretariat of the Pacific Community has
the potential to include activities addressing
alcohol and the relationship with these diseases.
It is estimated that 20 per cent of Samoans
are living below the basic needs poverty line,
but it is important to note that culturally
Samoans do not identify with the concept of
poverty. They adopt the general principle that
individuals should provide for both family and
community. The expectation that people will
donate to church and community ceremonies
can exacerbate difficulties. 639 However, what
may be seen as relative poverty in other contexts
is recognised as ‘hardship’, characterised
by lack of access to cash income to meet basic
needs, lack of access to services, and limited
opportunities for employment. 640
The Samoan Department of Statistics health
data do not reflect drug- or alcohol-related
hospital admissions. 641 Progress to achieving
Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 6 — the
goal of combating HIV, malaria and other diseases
— is reportedly inhibited by data gaps and
the need to strengthen surveillance systems.
131
635 Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, Working Group on Least Developed,
Landlocked and Island Developing Countries, Resume of Discussions, 12 April 2007. Available at:
.
In 2007 Samoa made a case against graduation from Least Developed Country status and, as a
result, did not graduate on the economic vulnerability indicator.
636 Governments of Samoa, Australia and New Zealand (2006), Joint Samoa Program Strategy 2006–
2010, available at: ; no reason for the decreased ranking is given in the strategy.
637 United Nations Development Programme, Human Development Index Indicators in UNDP’s
Human Development Report (annual); Government of Samoa & United Nations Development
Programme, Country Programme Action Plan 2008–2012.
638 AusAID above, fn.629.
639 Governments of Samoa, Australia and New Zealand (2006), Joint Samoa Program Strategy 2006–
2010, available at: ; poverty does not necessarily relate to hunger, as many Samoans are subsistence farmers
but they remain vulnerable to crop cycles and natural disasters.
640 Ibid.
641 Statistics available at:
(accessed October 2008).
Samoa