The Prime Minister of Samoa, the Honourable Tuilaepa Lupesoliai Sailele Malielegaoi, gave the opening address today to open the 10th Pacific Health Minister’s Meeting in Apia, Samoa. In the beautiful new Samoa Convention Centre, the Tui Atua Tupua Tamasese Efi (TATTE) Building, the PM spoke of “the need to change the health conscience of the people” so that families, villages and communities can be impacted. He told the health ministers that it was their duty and responsibility to promote healthy lifestyles to their people, so that the epidemic of noncommunicable diseases that is so prevalent in the region is fought and overcome. The PM concluded with a challenge to the meeting to come up with actions in response to the established needs. He will host a dinner on Thursday evening at the Robert Louis Stevenson Museum to conclude the three days of meetings.
Thomas King – The Reporters’ Academy Australia
Reporting from Apia, Samoa.
