Within the Pacific, Tonga is recognised to have some of the highest overall health standards, implementing a combination of preventative and immediate strategies to curb rates of communicable disease, child mortality and overall life expectancy.[1] The Tongan government aims to continue such levels of health through achieving their Millennium Development Goals (MDG) detailing their focus on improving their healthcare system within the areas of maternal and infant health as well as improve access to immunisation, safe water and sanitation.[1]
Through data formulated by the World Health Organization and Tonga's Ministry of Health, its population of over 105,000, 75% of the country's mortalities are attributed to non-communicable diseases (NCD) such as strains of cardiovascular and ischemic heart diseases and diabetes.[2] Additionally, 99.9% of the adult population is vulnerable to developing NCDs and despite the launch of Tonga's National Strategy to Prevent and Control NCDs the prevalence of such conditions has continued to rise.[1] Such increases are attributed to the processes of urbanisation and modernisation which popularised a more sedentary lifestyle amongst Tongans and introduced processed and saturated fats into their everyday diets.[3]
Through modernising and nationalising their healthcare system, as well as initiatives headlined by WHO, the overall life expectancy has been on the slow incline being rated at 77 in 2020.[4] Tonga has also had an increased prevalence of infectious diseases such as hepatitis A due to contamination of food and water in more remote areas as well as in 2019 an outbreak of measles which was declared an epidemic across the pacific due to a decrease in measles vaccinations across the islands.[5]
The Human Rights Measurement Initiative[6] finds that Tonga is fulfilling 74.4% of what it should be fulfilling for the right to health based on its level of income.[7] When looking at the right to health with respect to children, Tonga achieves 98.3% of what is expected based on its current income.[7] In regards to the right to health amongst the adult population, the country achieves only 86.9% of what is expected based on the nation's level of income.[8] Tonga falls into the "very bad" category when evaluating the right to reproductive health because the nation is fulfilling only 38.1% of what the nation is expected to achieve based on the resources (income) it has available.[7]
^ abcThe Kingdom of Tonga Health System Review. Who Regional Office for the Western Pacific. World Health Organization. 2015. ISBN 978-92-9061-719-8. OCLC 932169830.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
^Government of Tonga & United Nations Development Program (2013). Millennium Development Goals [MDG] Acceleration Framework: Reducing the Incidence of Non-Communicable Diseases in Tonga(PDF). p. 27.
^Lin, Sophia; Hufanga, Sione; Linhart, Christine; Morrell, Stephen; Taylor, Richard; Magliano, Dianna J.; Zimmet, Paul (2016-07-10). "Diabetes and Obesity Trends in Tonga Over 40 Years". Asia-Pacific Journal of Public Health. 28 (6): 475–485. doi:10.1177/1010539516645156. ISSN 1010-5395. PMID 27122623. S2CID 8109721.
^"World Population Prospects". United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs: Population Dynamics. 2019.
^Ministry of Health Government of Tonga (2019). Situation Report: Tonga Measles Outbreak 2019(PDF). Government of Tonga. pp. 1–4.
^"Human Rights Measurement Initiative – The first global initiative to track the human rights performance of countries". humanrightsmeasurement.org. Retrieved 2022-03-31.
^ abc"Tonga - HRMI Rights Tracker". rightstracker.org. Retrieved 2022-03-31.
^"Tonga- HRMI Rights Tracker". rightstracker.org. Retrieved 2022-03-31.
Within the Pacific, Tonga is recognised to have some of the highest overall health standards, implementing a combination of preventative and immediate...
Tonga (/ˈtɒŋə/ TONG-ə, /ˈtɒŋɡə/ TONG-gə; Tongan: [ˈtoŋa]), officially the Kingdom of Tonga (Tongan: Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is an island country...
of wealth in Nauru. 31% of Nauruans are diabetic. This rate is as high as 45% among the 55–64-year-old age group . Life expectancy inTonga is 71 and...
treatment. Health care inTonga Transportation inTonga Airports inTonga Rail transport inTonga Roads inTonga Water supply and sanitation inTonga Oceania...
Tonga, unless medical authorities cite preservation of maternal health. Abortion inTonga is restricted by sections 103 to 105 of the Criminal Offences...
family members (often aged) who prefer to remain inTonga. Tongans themselves often have to operate in two different contexts, which they often call anga...
other physical and mental impairments in people. Health care is delivered by health professionals and allied health fields. Medicine, dentistry, pharmacy...
Tonga National University is a university inTonga. It was established by an act of parliament in 2021, and was formed by merging existing government...
The Cabinet of Tonga is the cabinet (executive branch) of the government of the Kingdom of Tonga. It is composed primarily of the ministers of government...
Legislative Assembly of Tonga as representative for Vavaʻu 14 in the 2014 Tongan general election and was appointed Minister of Healthin the cabinet of ʻAkilisi...
Chief Surgeon in Vaiola Hospital, Nuku'alofa, before moving to Australia. He returned to Tonga after being appointed as Minister of Healthin 1999. As a...
Tonga is a constitutional monarchy with a population of approximately 130,000. Politics and the economy are dominated by the king, the nobility, and a...
2016. Retrieved 3 September 2016. Tonga Demographic and Health Survey 2012 (PDF) (Report). Tonga Ministry of Health, Tonga Department of Statistics, the Secretariat...
medical degree. He served as Tonga'sHealth Minister from 1970 to 1996. Tapa was born in Nukuʻalofa and educated at Tonga College and the Fiji School of...
(Tongan: Siaosi Tupou II; 18 June 1874 – 5 April 1918) was the King of Tonga from 18 February 1893 until his death. He was officially crowned at Nukuʻalofa...
of Tonga, women inTonga had been described in 2000 by the Los Angeles Times as members of Tongan society who traditionally have a "high position in Tongan...