Cook Islands nurses plea for ‘real action’ on International Day

Cook Islands nurses joined the rest of the world in celebrating International Nurses Day yesterday. Cook Islands chief nursing officer Ngatamariki Manea says a sustainable and effective health system is one that includes nurses at the...

New Zealand has suspended millions in funding to the Cook Islands over its growing China ties

Relations between the smaller Pacific island nations and their regional backers Australia and New Zealand have stumbled in recent years as Beijing vies to increase its sway in the region. The latest move by New Zealand was striking because it...

Cook Islands panic abates after first ever Covid case proves to be a false alarm

On Friday, the tiny Pacific country, one of the few countries to avoid any Covid cases throughout the pandemic, announced its first case: a 10-year-old boy who arrived on a flight from Auckland to Rarotonga, the main island in the country. “I was...

Tensions rise as New Zealand freezes millions of dollars in aid to Cook Islands over China deals

Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our...

Cook Islands part of Global Chemical Safety talks

Halatoa Fua (left), Director of the National Environment Service and Temarama Anguna-Kamana, Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture are pictured at the 2025 Basel-Rotterdam-Stockholm Conference of the Parties (BRS COP), which concluded in Geneva...

Cook Islands marks World Red Cross Day with fundraiser, quiz

This year, the Cook Islands Red Cross Society is celebrating World Red Cross Day with a splash of red, a dose of community spirit and a fun challenge for all ages. Held every year on May 8 (today), World Red Cross Day recognises the work of Red...

FNU’s College of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences – School of Medicine | A history 1886 – 1971

Fiji became a British colony in 1874, driven largely by economic struggles. The situation deteriorated in 1875 when Ratu Cakobau and his party returned from Sydney carrying measles. The epidemic devastated the non-immune Fijian population, killing...

Cook Islands completes report under the Biological Weapons Convention

Geneva, Switzerland -April 11, 2022: Rows of the United Nations member states flags in a front of Palace of United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland Earlier in April, the Cook Islands submitted its first Confidence Building Measure Report (CBM) for...

Cook Islands expands international footprint 

In recent weeks, the Government has advanced a series of key bilateral and regional initiatives aimed at enhancing connectivity, boosting trade and labour mobility, and deepening collaboration on climate resilience, development, and regional...

Cook Islands calls for ban on harmful chemicals in plastics to protect Pacific

Director of the Cook Islands National Environment Service (NES), Halatoa Fua. SPREP/25043018 The Cook Islands emphasised the need to address chemicals of concern found in plastics, which disproportionately impacts human health and the environment...

Cook Islands: Mitiaro, Atiu, Mangaia and Mauke to be declared smoke-free islands

By Teitimoana Tairi, Cook Islands News Aerial view of Mauke island. Photo: RNZ Mitiaro, Atiu, Mangaia, and Mauke islands in the Cook Islands will officially be declared smoke-free starting 31 May. Cook Islands Health Ministry (Te Marae Ora) will...

The Cook Islands declared a dengue outbreak in Rarotonga last week

Berlin Kafoa, director, of the public health division at The Pacific Community (SPC) says*: What is the immediate threat posed by dengue in the Pacific region, and how is this changing? "1. Increasing morbidity due to escalating dengue outbreaks...

Four Cook Islanders receive King's Birthday Honours

Four outstanding individuals have been recognised with the 2024 King’s Birthday Honours, presented at a ceremony held yesterday at the official residence of the King's Representative in Titikaveka. Front Left: Ritua “Aunty Kath” Kathleen Rose...

Pacific Islands race to contain 'largest dengue fever outbreak in a decade', as disease kills 18 people

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Dengue fever has struck countries across the Pacific, where health authorities have recorded 23,500 suspected cases and 16,000 laboratory confirmed cases this year. The mosquito-borne illness has killed 18 people,...

Aussies warned to take precaution after dengue fever outbreak in Cook Islands

Cook Islands – a popular travel spot for Australians – is warning travellers to take precautions after seven cases of dengue fever prompted a health emergency. The Cook Islands Health Ministry confirmed two cases of illness last week, taking to...

Dengue outbreak spurs clean-up campaign in Cook Islands

By Caleb Fotheringham of RNZ Big clean-up campaigns are under way in Rarotonga to try stamp out mosquito breeding grounds. The Cook Islands declared a dengue fever outbreak last Thursday (Friday NZ time). Outbreaks have also been called in Fiji,...

Passion for psychology leads to Cook Islands student’s success

Meilani Payne dedicates her undergraduate degree to her grandmother, Teau Tungane Maara-Tuaine-Kite-Po Teiotu. Victoria University of Wellington/25052303 Cook Islander Meilani Payne came to Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington from a...

World Health Organization recognises Cook Islands for anti-smoking efforts

Secretary of Health Bob Williams and Minister of Health Vainetutai Rose Toki Brown with the award from World Health Organization in Geneva this week. TMO/25052224 Te Marae Ora Ministry of Health received an award from the World Health Organization...

Former Cook Islands Deputy PM calls on NZ to reclaim control…

A former deputy Prime Minister of the Cook Islands is calling for the nation to reconsider rejoining New Zealand. Prominent lawyer Norman George argues that self-government has failed and urges New Zealand to take control of education, policing,...

Red flags surround after-hours health plan

Government plans to provide a permanent after-hours health service for primary and urgent care in Wanaka are already flawed, according to a local doctor with over 40 years’ experience. Health New Zealand is working on providing permanent 24/7...