A delegation from the Cook Islands government recently met the Philippines health secretary to discuss a possible health workforce collaboration such as addressing critical gaps in Cook Islands’ primary healthcare system.

According to a recent statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Immigration (MFAI) the delegation met with the Philippines Secretary of Health and representatives from the Foreign Ministry to discuss this possibility.

MFAI states that the Cook Islands proposed the development and signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) aimed at responding to both the immediate and long-term needs of the Cook Islands' health workforce.

In the short term, it is proposed the MOU will facilitate the deployment of specialist doctors and nurses from the Philippines to address critical gaps in the Cook Islands’ primary healthcare system, thereby reinforcing and sustaining essential services while alleviating the pressures on the overburdened local workforce.

In the long term, the MOU will focus on capacity development through tailored programmes designed to enhance the skills and qualifications of local healthcare professionals.

Meanwhile, the meeting was held at the conference of the Philippine-Pacific Partnership on Sustainable Health Workforce for Health Security which was in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO.

Cook Islands delegation was led by Minister for Health Vainetutai Rose Toki-Brown, Secretary for Health Bob Williams and Eden Brown, Senior Foreign Service Officer MFAI.

The conference responds to discussions from the 53rd Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting hosted in Tonga in August this year, where Leaders considered the ongoing health workforce crisis caused by shortages, uneven distribution, and outmigration of skilled professionals.

The conference also built on the 75th session of the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Committee for the Western Pacific, held a few weeks ago, that was chaired by Minister Toki-Brown and focused on achieving transformative primary health care systems – whereby the health workforce plays an integral role.

At her opening remarks, Toki-Brown recalled that, “since and post COVID-19, we have struggled to run our hospitals and clinics due to an overworked and understaffed health workforce. However, in spite of these challenges, there is an opportunity for greater engagement from development partners to support our priorities, including to bolster and fortify our health workforce to bridge current gaps as a short term solution, as we also work on the mid to long term solutions to bring our local health workforce to the required levels.”

Secretary Williams will progress on behalf of the Cook Islands government development of the MOU with counterparts from the Philippines Ministry of Health, supported by foreign affairs officials of both governments.