Interview with Dr Colin Tukuitonga: from crisis to action in Pacific communities.

The island communities in the Pacific contribute very little to global carbon emissions, yet they are among the most vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Dr Colin Tukuitonga, a general practitioner by training, was born and raised on Niue Island in the Pacific. He has held senior public health roles in the New Zealand Government and, since 2014, has served as Pacific Community Director-General.

Risk factors for community-acquired pneumonia in pre-school-aged children.

Aim: To identify risk factors for children developing and being hospitalised with community-acquired pneumonia.

Methods: Children <5 years old residing in urban Auckland, New Zealand were enrolled from 2002 to 2004. To assess the risk of developing pneumonia, children hospitalised with pneumonia (n= 289) plus children with pneumonia discharged from the Emergency Department (n= 139) were compared with a random community sample of children without pneumonia (n= 351).

Health status and epidemiological capacity and prospects: WHO Western Pacific Region.

Background: This article on the state of epidemiology in the WHO Western Pacific Region (WPR) is the first in a series of eight articles commissioned by the International Epidemiological Association (IEA) to identify global opportunities to promote the development of epidemiology.

Methods: Global mortality and disease data were used to summarize the burden of mortality, disease, risk factor and patterns of inequalities in the region. Medline bibliometrics were used to estimate epidemiological publication output by country.

SIDS or Sitisi: plight and response of Pacificans in New Zealand (Aotearoa).

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) or Sitisi was considered a rare event among Pacificans worldwide. However, recent findings in New Zealand (Aotearoa) have shown that at least 33% of Pacific infant deaths in New Zealand since 1991 have been due to Sitisi, and the incidence of Sitisi among Pacificans has been on the increase since 1986. These findings have necessitated the development of a Pacific response, especially since a National SIDS Prevention Programme in Aotearoa, implemented in 1991, had led to decreasing rates amongst Pakeha (Europeans) only.

Tobacco smoking prevalence in Pacific Island countries and territories: a review.

Aim: To comprehensively review adult and youth smoking prevalence data in Pacific Island countries and territories (PICT).

Methods: MEDLINE search for period 1986-2006 and search of World Health Organization and Centres for Disease Control and Prevention databases.

Results: Smoking prevalence in PICT ranges from 22%-57% (males) and from 0.

Polymorphism in intron 1 of the interferon-gamma gene influences both serum immunoglobulin E levels and the risk for chronic hepatitis B virus infection in Polynesians.

Intron 1 of the interferon-gamma (IFNG) gene contains two polymorphisms. The 12 CA-repeat allele of the +875 IFNGCA microsatellite and the T allele of the +A874T single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) have been associated with increased in vitro IFNG production and a variety of clinical phenotypes. The purpose of this study was to determine whether these polymorphisms influence total serum IgE levels [tsIgE] and the outcome of a hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection.

Genetic diversity and linkage disequilibrium in the Polynesian population of Niue Island.

Isolated populations that recently have been derived from small homogeneous groups of founders should have low genetic diversity and high levels of linkage disequilibrium and should be ideal for mapping ancestral polymorphisms that influence complex genetic disease susceptibility. Populations that fulfill these criteria have been difficult to identify. We have been looking for Polynesian populations with these characteristics, because Polynesians have high rates of complex genetic diseases.

Twelve-month and lifetime prevalences of mental disorders and treatment contact among Pacific people in Te Rau Hinengaro: the New Zealand Mental Health Survey.

Objective: To show the 12 month and lifetime prevalences of mental disorders and 12 month treatment contact of Pacific people in Te Rau Hinengaro: The New Zealand Mental Health Survey.

Method: Te Rau Hinengaro: The New Zealand Mental Health Survey, undertaken in 2003 and 2004, was a nationally representative face-to-face household survey of 12,992 New Zealand adults aged 16 years and over including Māori (n = 2457), Pacific people (n = 2236), people of mixed Pacific and Māori ethnicity (n = 138), and 'Others' (a composite group of predominantly European descent) (n = 8161). Ethnicity was measured by self-identified ethnicity using the New Zealand 2001 Census of Population and Dwellings question.

Pacific Islands Families: First Two Years of Life Study--design and methodology.

Aims: Knowledge about the health, psychosocial, and behavioural characteristics of Pacific peoples with young children resident in New Zealand is limited. The Pacific Islands Families: First Two Years of Life (PIF) Study was designed to redress this knowledge gap. This paper describes the design and methodology of the PIF Study.

Health problems among six-week old Pacific infants living in New Zealand.

Background: The purpose of this paper is to describe maternal reports of various health problems experienced by their Pacific infants in the first six weeks of their lives and to examine the infant, maternal and socio-demographic factors associated with infant health problems.

Material/methods: The data were gathered as part of the Pacific Islands Families: First Two Years of Life (PIF) Study in which mothers in the cohort (n=1376) were interviewed about the health problems experienced by their infants (n=1398) in the first six weeks of life.

Results: Fifty-five percent of mothers reported that their infant had experienced minor health problems, and 15.

Preventing chronic diseases: taking stepwise action.

The scientific knowledge to achieve a new global goal for the prevention of chronic diseases--a 2% yearly reduction in rates of death from chronic disease over and above projected declines during the next 10 years--already exists. However, many low-income and middle-income countries must deal with the practical realities of limited resources and a double burden of infectious and chronic diseases. This paper presents a novel planning framework that can be used in these contexts: the stepwise framework for preventing chronic diseases.

Asthma phenotypes in Niue Islanders.

Objective: The aim of this study was to identify asthma phenotypes in patients of Niue Island ancestry that might be suitable for susceptibility gene mapping studies.

Methodology: Two hundred and sixteen Niue Islanders with physician-diagnosed asthma that was not secondary to other medical conditions were recruited through community organisations. Fifty-one of the subjects with asthma were resident on Niue Island and 165 in New Zealand.

Smoking among mothers of a Pacific Island birth cohort in New Zealand: associated factors.

Aims: The present study investigated (among mothers of a Pacific Island birth cohort) the rates of smoking before, during, and after pregnancy as well as factors predictive of smoking during pregnancy.

Methods: Data were gathered as part of the Pacific Islands Families (PIF) Study. In this study, mothers of a cohort of 1398 Pacific infants born in Middlemore Hospital, Auckland during 2000 were interviewed when their infants were 6 weeks old.

Factors associated with not breastfeeding exclusively among mothers of a cohort of Pacific infants in New Zealand.

Aims: This study investigated the association between not breastfeeding exclusively (among mothers of a cohort of Pacific infants in New Zealand) and several maternal, sociodemographic, and infant care factors.

Methods: The data were gathered as part of the Pacific Islands Families (PIF) Study. Infant feeding information was obtained through interviews with mothers (6 weeks post-birth) and from hospital records for 1247 of the 1365 biological mothers.

Problems with damp and cold housing among Pacific families in New Zealand.

Aims: To describe reported problems with damp and cold housing among Pacific families in New Zealand and their associations with two facets of maternal health, namely postnatal depression and asthma.

Methods: The data were gathered as part of the Pacific Islands Families: First Two Years of Life (PIF) Study in which 1376 mothers were interviewed when their infants were six weeks old. Mothers were questioned with regard to problems with dampness or mould and cold housing, facets of maternal health (assessed using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale), and asthma.

Infant feeding and feeding problems experienced by mothers of a birth cohort of Pacific infants in New Zealand.

Objectives: To describe the rates of exclusive breastfeeding, combination feeding, formula only feeding and infant feeding problems experienced by mothers of a birth cohort of Pacific infants in New Zealand.

Methods: The data were gathered as part of the Pacific Islands Families Study, a prospective cohort study in which 1376 mothers of a cohort of 1398 Pacific infants born in Middlemore Hospital, South Auckland, New Zealand during 2000 were interviewed at home when their infants were six weeks old. Included in the interview were questions regarding method of infant feeding and any feeding problems experienced.

Infant bed-sharing among Pacific families in New Zealand.

Aim: To describe infant bed-sharing among Pacific families in New Zealand.

Methods: The data were gathered as part of the Pacific Island Families: First Two Years of Life (PIF) Study in which 1376 mothers were interviewed when their infants were six-weeks-old. Maternal reports of infant bed-sharing practices were assessed by questions about infant sleep location and the number of people who usually shared a mattress with the infant.

Awareness of sudden infant death syndrome risk factors among mothers of Pacific infants in New Zealand.

Aim: To describe the awareness of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) risk factors among mothers of Pacific infants in New Zealand.

Methods: The data were gathered as part of the Pacific Islands Families Study in which 1376 mothers were interviewed when their infants were six weeks old. Included in this interview were questions designed to examine the mothers' awareness of SIDS risk factors.