rp21 situational analysis - Pacific Health Voices

and incorporate offences for emerging drugs
of concern in the region. A September 2008
hearing by the Australian Senate Standing
Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and
Trade raised questions on the transhipment
points for illegal drugs and trafficking on
illegal drugs and weapons. The inquiry
considered the main economic and security
challenges facing Papua New Guinea and
the Island States of the Southwest Pacific. 12
While the early approach has been
enforcement- centred, the broadening commitment
to also address substance use issues
from a health perspective is a positive development.
Agencies such as WHO’s Western
Pacific Regional Office (WPRO) have worked
with the Secretariat of the Pacific Community
(SPC) for a number of years on nationallevel
alcohol policy development and have
engaged with the PDARN to increase activity
in this area. This renewed Pacific focus
includes appointment of advisers to support
program development in the region. Increasing
attention to alcohol issues is also reflected
by broader recognition that alcohol needs
to be incorporated into national-level plans
concerning non-communicable diseases.
1.2 The region
The Pacific is characterised as a region for
the purposes of many international interventions,
interactions and assistance programs.
In addition, representatives of all
Pacific States participate in regional forums
designed to create a strategic and unified
approach to development and interactions
with the international community. Although
it is not a member of regional forums and
networks, Timor-Leste is included in this
analysis. The logic for this inclusion is informed
by geographical proximity and the
many parallel development imperatives and
risk factors that characterise Timor-Leste and
the PICTs.
Where the country profiles highlight local
trends, organisations and capacity to respond
to substance use issues, the regional overview
seeks to highlight common themes and
identify areas potentially justifying a regional
response. The benefit of a regional overview
is to flag the potential for resource and skills
sharing, and country-to-country mentoring
and support mechanisms. Furthermore, interventions
such as the Regional Assistance
Mission Solomon Islands (RAMSI) impact locally
(on Solomon Islanders) and regionally
(on deployed personnel); these complex interactions
require complementary and considered
responses. Other examples include
regional-level trade agreements with a direct
impact upon domestic strategies to regulate
alcohol imports and the occasionally
advanced argument for a regional court.
Decisions at regional level cannot be taken
without considering domestic effects. These
examples highlight the benefit of a regional
understanding while cautioning against an
imbalanced approach too heavily reliant on
regional responses. Other regional versus domestic
challenges including migration and
governmental stability are explored in detail
in the section below.
3
12 Above, fn.10.
Regional overview