A backlog of operations and clinical appointments is building at the main public hospital in Samoa, as a strike by government doctors drags on for the third week.
The Samoa Observer is reporting that specialist clinical sessions and many non-urgent operations at Tupua Tamasese Hospital have been postponed.
Expatriate Chinese and Indian doctors and a small number of local doctors are said to be maintaining essential services.
More than 30 doctors walked off their jobs earlier this month in protest against low salaries and poor working conditions.
A commission of enquiry set up to look into the doctors' grievances has until the seventh of October to submit a report.
