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By contrast, the World Bank lists the Independent State of Samoa as a low TB incidence jurisdiction with a reported TB incidence rate of 6.8 in 2021, comparable to that of New Zealand. Unlike the common rectangular domiciliary and institutional structures found in other Pacific Island groups and introduced to the Samoan Islands by the Europeans in the 19th century, often with airtight or insulated building shells, the traditional fale both lacking walls and being buffeted consistently by wind would provide housing space that was naturally ventilated and cooled. Recent World Health Organization estimates for the many Pacific Island jurisdictions show a wide range of TB incidence, no doubt the results of a multiplicity of factors; however, few Pacific Island jurisdictions report low TB incidence rates comparable to those of the Samoas (e.g., Tonga and the Cook Islands, both of which have near omnipresent wind similar to that in the Samoas and traditionally have had open and airy domestic architecture made of bamboo, wood, and palm fronds, with walls often omitted to enable easy passage of the trade winds in an extremely humid environment). The combination of trade winds and relatively wall-less domestic architecture has been by no means the sole contributor to the lower rates of TB in the Samoas compared with Pacific Island groups elsewhere in Polynesia and in Micronesia and Melanesia, which have differing environmental conditions, demographics, and traditional architecture that more customarily had a greater presence of walls.

Double strike: two linked earthquakes caused 2009 South Pacific tsunami The tsunami that struck the Samoan and northern Tongan islands in September 2009 was preceded by a magnitude-8 earthquake on the outer slope of the oceanic trench, where the Pacific plate bends as it enters the subduction zone. This was initially thought to be the sole source of the tsunami, but a more complex picture is emerging. Two groups report the occurrence of two earthquakes, a 'triggered doublet', at nearly the same time and place. What is not clear is which triggered the other. Beavan et al . use an analysis of Global Positioning System station displacements and tsunami models to show that the outer-rise earthquake was accompanied — possibly triggered by — a near-simultaneous mega-thrust earthquake in the adjacent Tonga subduction zone. Lay et al . analyse the available seismic data, and their model suggests that the outer-rise event triggered megathrust faulting. Either way, this dual strike suggests a mechanism for the occasional large tsunamis generated at the Tonga subduction zone. On 29 September 2009, a tsunami devastated the Samoan and northern Tongan islands. Here, an unusual earthquake sequence that preceded this tsunami is analysed. A magnitude-8.1 intraplate faulting event in the outer trench-slope at the northern end of the Tongan subduction zone was followed by extensive interplate faulting, with total moment equivalent to that of a magnitude-8.0 earthquake. Overlap of the seismic signals had obscured the fact that distinct faults had ruptured with different geometries. Great earthquakes (having seismic magnitudes of at least 8) usually involve abrupt sliding of rock masses at a boundary between tectonic plates. Such interplate ruptures produce dynamic and static stress changes that can activate nearby intraplate aftershocks, as is commonly observed in the trench-slope region seaward of a great subduction zone thrust event 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 . The earthquake sequence addressed here involves a rare instance in which a great trench-slope intraplate earthquake triggered extensive interplate faulting, reversing the typical pattern and broadly expanding the seismic and tsunami hazard. On 29 September 2009, within two minutes of the initiation of a normal faulting event with moment magnitude 8.1 in the outer trench-slope at the northern end of the Tonga subduction zone, two major interplate underthrusting subevents (both with moment magnitude 7.8), with total moment equal to a second great earthquake of moment magnitude 8.0, ruptured the nearby subduction zone megathrust. The collective faulting produced tsunami waves with localized regions of about 12 metres run-up that claimed 192 lives in Samoa, American Samoa and Tonga. Overlap of the seismic signals obscured the fact that distinct faults separated by more than 50 km had ruptured with different geometries, with the triggered thrust faulting only being revealed by detailed seismic wave analyses. Extensive interplate and intraplate aftershock activity was activated over a large region of the northern Tonga subduction zone.

Obesity in Pacific Island countries (PICs) has hit crisis levels, and the consequent high non-communicable disease (NCD) burden is devastating for their developing economies. Nutrition transitions from traditional, plant and seafood diets to a dependence on processed foods are at the core of the obesity and NCD epidemic in PICs. Fiscal policies are widely promoted as an effective mechanism to reduce consumption of unhealthy foods and increase consumption of fruits and vegetables. However, there are little data to evaluate the effectiveness of these policies as rates of NCDs and obesity in PICs continue to rise. This study used an online survey to recruit 4116 adults from six PICs: Fiji, Kiribati, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu. The study measured the consumption of and household access to sugar-sweetened beverages, ultra-processed packaged snacks, fruits and vegetables and attitudes on food prices and unhealthy eating. The study also assessed the relationship between consumption of these foods and drink and (1) household access, (2) price as a food choice motive, and (3) unhealthy eating attitudes. This study provides novel data on food-related behaviours in PICs, offers insights into the potential impact of NCD-related fiscal policies on food consumption and identifies other variables of interest.

Approach The World Health Organization (WHO) package of essential noncommunicable disease interventions for primary health care in low-resource settings was adopted in seven villages throughout Samoa in 2015. The National Steering Committee Members designed and implemented a screening process, and local facilitators and health-care workers collected health and lifestyle data. The WHO/lnternational Society of Hypertension risk assessment was used on villagers older than 40 years to identify people at high risk of noncommunicable disease. Approche L'ensemble d'interventions essentielles de l'Organisation mondiale de la Sante contre les maladies non transmissibles pour les soins de sante primaire dans les structures a faibles ressources a ete adopte dans sept villages des Samoa en 2015. Les membres du Comite directeur national ont concu et mis en ceuvre un processus de depistage, et des facilitateurs et prestataires de soins locaux ont collecte des donnees sur l'etat de sante et le mode de vie. Evaluation des risques de l'OMS/la Societe internationale d'hypertension a ete utilisee sur les villageois ages de plus de 40 ans afin d'identifier les personnes exposees a un risque eleve de developper une maladie non transmissible. Enfoque En 2015 se aprobo en siete aldeas de Samoa el Conjunto de intervenciones esenciales de la Organizacion Mundial de la Salud (OMS) para las enfermedades no contagiosas para la atencion primaria en entornos de bajos recursos. Los miembros del Comite Directivo Nacional disenaron e implementaron un proceso de evaluacion, mientras que los coordinadores locales y los trabajadores de la salud recopilaron datos sobre la salud y el estilo de vida. La evaluacion del riesgo de hipertension de la OMS/Sociedad Internacional de Hipertension se utilizo en los aldeanos mayores de 40 anos para identificar a las personas con un alto riesgo de padecer enfermedades no contagiosas.

Approach The World Health Organization (WHO) package of essential noncommunicable disease interventions for primary health care in low-resource settings was adopted in seven villages throughout Samoa in 2015. The National Steering Committee Members designed and implemented a screening process, and local facilitators and health-care workers collected health and lifestyle data. The WHO/lnternational Society of Hypertension risk assessment was used on villagers older than 40 years to identify people at high risk of noncommunicable disease. Approche L'ensemble d'interventions essentielles de l'Organisation mondiale de la Sante contre les maladies non transmissibles pour les soins de sante primaire dans les structures a faibles ressources a ete adopte dans sept villages des Samoa en 2015. Les membres du Comite directeur national ont concu et mis en ceuvre un processus de depistage, et des facilitateurs et prestataires de soins locaux ont collecte des donnees sur l'etat de sante et le mode de vie. Evaluation des risques de l'OMS/la Societe internationale d'hypertension a ete utilisee sur les villageois ages de plus de 40 ans afin d'identifier les personnes exposees a un risque eleve de developper une maladie non transmissible. Enfoque En 2015 se aprobo en siete aldeas de Samoa el Conjunto de intervenciones esenciales de la Organizacion Mundial de la Salud (OMS) para las enfermedades no contagiosas para la atencion primaria en entornos de bajos recursos. Los miembros del Comite Directivo Nacional disenaron e implementaron un proceso de evaluacion, mientras que los coordinadores locales y los trabajadores de la salud recopilaron datos sobre la salud y el estilo de vida. La evaluacion del riesgo de hipertension de la OMS/Sociedad Internacional de Hipertension se utilizo en los aldeanos mayores de 40 anos para identificar a las personas con un alto riesgo de padecer enfermedades no contagiosas.

Approach The World Health Organization (WHO) package of essential noncommunicable disease interventions for primary health care in low-resource settings was adopted in seven villages throughout Samoa in 2015. The National Steering Committee Members designed and implemented a screening process, and local facilitators and health-care workers collected health and lifestyle data. The WHO/lnternational Society of Hypertension risk assessment was used on villagers older than 40 years to identify people at high risk of noncommunicable disease. Approche L'ensemble d'interventions essentielles de l'Organisation mondiale de la Sante contre les maladies non transmissibles pour les soins de sante primaire dans les structures a faibles ressources a ete adopte dans sept villages des Samoa en 2015. Les membres du Comite directeur national ont concu et mis en ceuvre un processus de depistage, et des facilitateurs et prestataires de soins locaux ont collecte des donnees sur l'etat de sante et le mode de vie. Evaluation des risques de l'OMS/la Societe internationale d'hypertension a ete utilisee sur les villageois ages de plus de 40 ans afin d'identifier les personnes exposees a un risque eleve de developper une maladie non transmissible. Enfoque En 2015 se aprobo en siete aldeas de Samoa el Conjunto de intervenciones esenciales de la Organizacion Mundial de la Salud (OMS) para las enfermedades no contagiosas para la atencion primaria en entornos de bajos recursos. Los miembros del Comite Directivo Nacional disenaron e implementaron un proceso de evaluacion, mientras que los coordinadores locales y los trabajadores de la salud recopilaron datos sobre la salud y el estilo de vida. La evaluacion del riesgo de hipertension de la OMS/Sociedad Internacional de Hipertension se utilizo en los aldeanos mayores de 40 anos para identificar a las personas con un alto riesgo de padecer enfermedades no contagiosas.

Approach The World Health Organization (WHO) package of essential noncommunicable disease interventions for primary health care in low-resource settings was adopted in seven villages throughout Samoa in 2015. The National Steering Committee Members designed and implemented a screening process, and local facilitators and health-care workers collected health and lifestyle data. The WHO/lnternational Society of Hypertension risk assessment was used on villagers older than 40 years to identify people at high risk of noncommunicable disease. Approche L'ensemble d'interventions essentielles de l'Organisation mondiale de la Sante contre les maladies non transmissibles pour les soins de sante primaire dans les structures a faibles ressources a ete adopte dans sept villages des Samoa en 2015. Les membres du Comite directeur national ont concu et mis en ceuvre un processus de depistage, et des facilitateurs et prestataires de soins locaux ont collecte des donnees sur l'etat de sante et le mode de vie. Evaluation des risques de l'OMS/la Societe internationale d'hypertension a ete utilisee sur les villageois ages de plus de 40 ans afin d'identifier les personnes exposees a un risque eleve de developper une maladie non transmissible. Enfoque En 2015 se aprobo en siete aldeas de Samoa el Conjunto de intervenciones esenciales de la Organizacion Mundial de la Salud (OMS) para las enfermedades no contagiosas para la atencion primaria en entornos de bajos recursos. Los miembros del Comite Directivo Nacional disenaron e implementaron un proceso de evaluacion, mientras que los coordinadores locales y los trabajadores de la salud recopilaron datos sobre la salud y el estilo de vida. La evaluacion del riesgo de hipertension de la OMS/Sociedad Internacional de Hipertension se utilizo en los aldeanos mayores de 40 anos para identificar a las personas con un alto riesgo de padecer enfermedades no contagiosas.

Accurate measurements of available water resources play a key role in achieving a sustainable environment of a society. Precise river flow estimation is an essential task for optimal use of hydropower generation, flood forecasting, and best utilization of water resources in river engineering. The current paper presents the development and verification of the prediction abilities of new hybrid extreme learning machine (ELM)-based models coupling with metaheuristic methods, e.g., Particle swarm optimization (PSO), Mayfly optimization algorithm (MOA), Grey wolf optimization (GWO), and simulated annealing (SA) for monthly streamflow prediction. Prediction precision of standalone ELM model was compared with two-phase optimized state-of-the-arts models, e.g., ELM–PSO, ELM–MOA, ELM–PSOGWO, and ELM–SAMOA, respectively. Hydro-meteorological data acquired from Gorai and Padma Hardinge Bridge stations at Padma River Basin, northwestern Bangladesh, were utilized as inputs in this study to employ models in the form of seven different input combinations. The model’s performances are appraised using Nash–Sutcliffe efficiency, root-mean-square-error (RMSE), mean absolute error, mean absolute percentage error and determination coefficient. The tested results of both stations reported that the ELM–SAMOA and ELM–PSOGWO models offered the best accuracy in the prediction of monthly streamflows compared to ELM–PSO, ELM–MOA, and ELM models. Based on the local data, the ELM–SAMOA reduced the RMSE of ELM, ELM–PSO, ELM–MOA, and ELM–PSOGWO by 31%, 27%, 19%, and 14% for the Gorai station and by 29%, 27%, 19%, and 14% for Padma Hardinge bridge station, in the testing stage, respectively. In contrast, based on external data, ELM–PSOGWO improves in RMSE of ELM, ELM–PSO, ELM–MOA, and ELM–SAMOA by 20%, 5.1%, 6.2%, and 4.6% in the testing stage, respectively. The results confirmed the superiority of two-phase optimized ELM–SAMOA and ELM–PSOGWO models over a single ELM model. The overall results suggest that ELM–SAMOA and ELM–PSOGWO models can be successfully applied in modeling monthly streamflow prediction with either local or external hydro-meteorological datasets.

The recent destruction of thousands of homes by lava flows from La Palma volcano, Canary Islands, and Nyiragongo volcano, Democratic Republic of Congo, serves as a reminder of the devastating impact that lava flows can have on communities living in volcanically active regions. Damage to buildings and infrastructure can have widespread and long-lasting effects on rehabilitation and livelihoods. Our understanding of how lava flows interact with buildings is limited and based upon sparse empirical data. Often a binary impact is assumed (destroyed when in contact with the flow and intact when not in contact with the flow), although previous events have shown this to be an oversimplification. Empirical damage data collected after past events provide an evidence base from which to better understand lava flow impacts across a range of building types, environments, and eruption styles, as well as to explore the temporal and spatial trends in these impacts. However, information on lava flow impacts is scattered across literature, reports, and maps; no comprehensive dataset of lava flow impacts exists. In this study, we compile and standardise lava flow impact information from previously compiled data, eruption records, and published literature to create the first comprehensive global dataset of impacts on the built environment from lava flows. We found that since the first recorded event between 5494 yr B.P. and 5387 yr B.P., lava flows from at least 155 events have impacted buildings or infrastructure (e.g., roads, electricity pylons, ski-lifts), with most (47%, n  = 73) recorded as located in Europe. Over the last century, there have been approximately seven lava flow impact events per decade ( n  = 71 total). This greatly expands on the past compilations of lava flow impact events. Since ca. 1800 CE, impacts have been consistently documented for less than 14% of recorded eruptions with lava flows globally; prior to 1800 CE, impacts were recorded much more variably (between 0 and 70% of lava flows in any 10-year time bin). The most destructive recorded events were the 1669 CE lava flows at Etna volcano, Italy, which destroyed up to 12 villages and part of the city of Catania, and the 2002 CE lava flows at Nyiragongo volcano, Democratic Republic of Congo, which destroyed up to 14,000 buildings. We found that few studies in the dataset report building typology, damage severity, or hazard intensity at the building-level scale, limiting our ability to assess past building-lava interactions. Future collection of building-level hazard and impact data, supplemented with non-English language records, can be used to inform models that forecast future impacts, support lava flow risk assessments, and develop potential mitigation measures.

This article examines the Western academic explanations for suicide epidemics among adolescents and young adults documented in many Pacific Island nations beginning in the early 1970s. These explanatory accounts draw heavily from Emile Durkheim's theory of social change and suicide, developed in the late nineteenth century. Durkheim argued that suicide epidemics are more likely in the context of modernizing social change either because of increased social disequilibrium (anomie) or social disintegration (egoism). These traditional Western explanations are rarely empirically assessed for their appropriateness in Pacific Island contexts. Therefore, this article uses selected empirical evidence to assess the major claims found in these explanations, focusing on Samoa and the Micronesian region as the best documented examples. Finding that the data do not support well the major Western-derived explanations for these suicide epidemics, alternative explanations are explored. These alternatives suggest that Pacific Island young people's vulnerability to suicide is partly a result of how globalizing commodity flows, development policies, and the selective appropriation of these by local actors inform local social relations and the tensions in them. This view supports well recent advocacy for a shift in perspectives toward those that draw on indigenous Oceanic understandings of the va or wa as relational spaces that are central for the quality of health and well-being in Pacific Island communities.