Health


Traditional Medicine
Public Health
Radiation Health
Demography
 
Traditional Medicine

The Marshallese society developed strategies to stay healthy on what is in the Western world considered marginal and resource poor land. Herbal medicine played a major role.

Plants and their uses in the Marshalls -- Medicinal Plants
compiled by Dirk H.R. Spennemann
Table of plants, their Marshallese names and their traditional uses as medicinal plants
 
Public Health

With the commencement of European administration, health services of some kind of the other were started. The German colonial government established the first public health service, centered on Jaluit. A substantial amount of research into public health issues has been carried out over the years.

Epidemics recorded for the southern Marshall Islands (1887-1943)
compiled by Dirk H.R. Spennemann
Quarterly medical statistics for the Government Physican Jaluit to 1912
compiled by Dirk H.R. Spennemann
The Country Health Information Profile for the Republic of the Marshall Islands
WHO Western Pacific Region
The Country Health Information Profile for the Republic of the Marshall Islands 2000
WHO Western Pacific Region
The Country Profile, Republic of the Marshall Islands 2000
WHO Western Pacific Region
Statistics in the RMI Yearbook for 1996 , 1997, 1998-99, 2002
Republic of the Marshall Islands 1986 Statistical Abstract
Country Overview and statitistical indicators for 2004 (Courtesy RMI Division of Planning)
 
Radiation Health

During the 140sto 1960s the United States of America carried out a number of nuclear tests in the Marshall Islands. Some of these led to the contamination of seveal islands, and caused radition related illnesses among a large number of Marshallese citizens. A variety of studies have been carried out into the health of the affected people.[.

Health

Estimation of the Baseline Number of Cancers Among Marshallese and the Number
of Cancers Attributable to Exposure to Fallout from Nuclear Weapons Testing Conducted in the Marshall Islands
Prepared by the Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services
Report prepared for Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources September, 2004

Politics

Republic of the Marshall Islands Changed Circumstances Petition to Congress March 14, 2005
Prepared by Thomas Lum (Coordinator), Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division; Kenneth Thomas, American Law Division; C. Stephen Redhead, Domestic Social Policy Division; David Bearden, Mark Holt, and Salvatore Lazzari, Resources, Science, and Industry Division.
Report supplied by Congressional Research Service „ The Library of Congress
Report Evaluating the Request of the Government of the Republic of the Marshall Islands
Presented to the Congress of the United States of America Regarding Changed Circumstances Arising From U.S. Nuclear Testing in the Marshall Islands Pursuant to Article IX of the Nuclear Claims Settlement Approved by Congress in Public Law 99-239 November 2004
Released by the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs Jan. 4, 2005
 
Demography

The size of the inhabitable islands and the food they could produce limited the number of people they could support. The Europeans brought new diseases which resulted in a temporary population decline. Population data exist for many of the atolls.

Historic Demographic Information for the Marshall Islands
compiled by Dirk H.R. Spennemann
Demographic tables arranged by period and by atoll. Contains a great deal of historic data.
Population control measures in traditional Marshallese Culture:
a review of 19th century European observations
by Dirk H.R. Spennemann
The environmental conditions, coupled with the extremely limited land area make the Marshall Islands marginal settlement land. At a time when all food had to be produced on the islands or caught in the sea, the population of a given atoll could not be allowed to rise beyond the atoll's carrying capacity. Hence a number of population control measures had been developed. These are discussed in this paper.
Pilot Survey of Marshallese living in Arkansas, Guam, Hawaii, the CNMI and in the Marshalls
Detailed Press Release by the RMI Government
Contains summary information on the findings, incl. information on Housing Characteristics (Household size, Building type, Tenure, Structure and Facilities) and Population Characteristics (Demography, Migration, Social characteristics, Education, Labor force, Income.and Poverty Status).
Digital Micronesia-An Electronic Library & Archive is provided free of charge as an advertising-free information service for the world community. It is being maintained by Dirk HR Spennemann, Associate Professor in Cultural Heritage Management, Institute of Land, Water and Society and School of Environmental & Information Sciences, Charles Sturt University, Albury, Australia. The server space and technical support are provided by Charles Sturt University as part of its commitment to regional engagement. Environmental SciencesInformation Sciences

© Dirk Spennemann 1999– 2005
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