Nikhil Aiyush Kumar 
[Photo: File]
Research from the Pacific is now helping shape regional health decisions, with recommendations from researchers already reaching Pacific Heads of Health.
Deputy Prime Minister Manoa Kamikamica says the 2026 Pacific Islands Health Research Symposium has shown how research can move from discussion to action.
Speaking at Fiji National University, Kamikamica highlighted recommendations developed by researchers and health experts and presented to Pacific Heads of Health in Rarotonga last week.
Kamikamica says recommendations from discussions in Lisbon last year helped shape the inaugural Pacific HIV Symposium.
He says Pacific Heads of Health accepted two key recommendations for Pacific countries and territories.
“A research symposium is not the usual starting point for a regional health decision. In this case, it was. That is a model this government intends to support.”
Kamikamica says Fiji’s HIV outbreak shows why Pacific countries need to learn from each other rather than tackle health challenges alone.
“No single Pacific country has the scale to answer these questions in isolation. And there is little to be gained by any of us relearning at a cost a lesson a neighbour has already learned.”
Chair of the Pacific Islands Health Research Symposium says the aim is to ensure Pacific research directly informs decisions affecting communities.
Kamikamica says research produced in the Pacific should not end with publication, but should help shape decisions that affect the health and wellbeing of Pacific communities.
