The Secretariat of the Pacific Community is calling on governments to collaborate more to tackle the worsening incidence of diabetes.
The head of the SPC's Public Health, Dr Paula Vivili, says both healthy lifestyles and the living environment are important in addressing lifestyle diseases.
He says officials from different sectors such as trade, economics and education need to work together with health authorities to create healthy environments.
He says for example it's hard for people to make healthy decisions when fizzy drink is cheaper than water.
"One of the issues that we've had that hasn't really helped is the notion that people get sick because of their choices for their lives. But the fact is that the environments we live in really play a big role. It's like putting a kid in a candy store and saying 'don't eat candy'. And to a certain extent this is what we are seeing in the Pacific."
