Transcript
Conference speakers shared a range of new technological developments that could work well in the Pacific region.
The CEO of the Zika Foundation, Michael Callaghan, has worldwide experience with mosquito-borne diseases and ways to manage it, having been to many infectious zones around the world.
For the Pacific, he says the main ones include malaria, chikungunya and zika, but the most terrifying one by far is dengue.
"Its a terrible disease that really hits communities at several levels more than just any terrible painful disease. I have had it. It's no fun. It keeps you out of work for a long time and it is also a big GDP killer affecting communities quite significantly."
Currently there's dengue in Samoa, American Samoa, Fiji, French Polynesia and Wallis and Futuna.
Dr Callaghan says as well as a public health concern, its an economic one as people aren't able to work being so sick and recovery is slow.
He says the Aedes aegypti mozzie is the one to avoid being bitten by but climate change noticeably has impacted on its lifecycle.
"So Aedes Aegypti mosquito is the posterchild as a primary beneficiary of climate change as it adapts and goes where people go, especially as cities are getting warmer. "
The Cook Islands Ministry of Health's Valentino Wichman says he didn't realise that this disease carrying mosquito is drawn to certain island outfits, as well as odours.
"Like the colouring of the clothes you wear, the soaps you use, where you clean and where this type of Aedes mosquito flies and where on the body it is more attracted too.
"When you look at such behavioural factors of this mosquito, you can target better interventions."
Communicating key messages out to communities is also key.
Mina Vilayleck heads up France's e-pop network that's also being piloted in New Zealand, New Caledonia, Fiji and Vanuatu.
She says they target youth to seek answers to questions communities are asking, linking science, society and the media.
"So they produce little videos with their smart phones because every young person and student can have access to such tools now and they can use their phone to shoot little videos, 2 minutes max, to collect the feelings of any population facing an issue. "
One new app that's been successfully piloted in other countries has huge potential for small island states.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Dr Rebecca Levine says the app just needs a mobile device and users are given a unique barcode to log what is found in mozzie traps.
The free Epi Info Vector Surveillance app can be downloaded easily.
"We are really hopeful that the success we saw in the Caribbean and Latin America could really be translated back here to be used in the Pacific."
Participants learned about a new NASA developed GLOBE APP mosquito data visualisation technology, and new mapping technology that utilises drones.
Attending the event were health communicators, business professionals, government officials and community leaders from countries such as Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Fiji, Samoa, Niue, Cook Islands, Tonga, Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia and Palau.
The TechCamp event was organised by the US Consulate in Auckland, with input from the University of Otago and the Secretariat of the Pacific Community.
