helen weld public health

Sunday, February 17, 2008

Getting to Work. . .

Despite a few logistical problems after arriving, we will begin working tomorrow. I will be assisting with each of three surveys.

The surveys consist of:
The Tuvalu National Lymphatic Filariasis Survey being done by the Ministry of Health here.

The second is a Gates Foundation Global LF Elimination survey to compare diagnostic tools in low prevalence countries. Tuvalu is one of nine countries in the survey.

The third is a PhD study by Sonia Harmen of JCU, checking out the incidence of skin diseases, worms and LF amongst school children.

This pm we will have a mock run through of how we are going to run things. Tomorrow we will begin the work. Despite my lack of technical expertise, I’ve been asking lots of "what if" questions about the logistics of it all to make sure all the bases are covered.

I had a GLORIOUS early AM swim in the lagoon, about a km out into the TURQUOISE. The clouds were magnificent and almost like N. C. Wyeth’s Giant painting.

Helen

Tuvalu Facts:

Capital: Funafuti
Population: 11,992 (July 2007 est.)

Polynesian 96%, Micronesian 4%
Islands: 9 coral atolls

Area: 26 sq km

Highest point: 5 m
Airports: 1

Roadways: total: 8 km
Monetary unit: 1 Tuvaluan dollar, or 1 Aus dollar = 100 cents
Main exports: Copra, handicrafts
Life expectancy: men: 66.38 years women: 70.99 years
Languages: Tuvaluan, English, Samoan,

Kiribati (on the island of Nui)
Religions: Church of Tuvalu (Congregationalist) 97%

Seventh-Day Adventist 1.4%, Baha'i 1%