Transcript
ISIMELI TUKANA - The GHSS is a WHO [World Health Organisation] survey that looks at 13 to 17 year olds, that means upper primary or mainly secondary school students at they move into puberty. We know that at this age our children will start to move into those kind of...they test all the theories that the parents give them. The GHSS gives us an opportunity to look at the extent of the problem in adolescence, for example smoking and alcohol and sexuality. We know that there is some of this activity going on in schools but the beauty about the survey is that it gives us some sort of knowledge of the extent of the problem.
KORO VAKA'UTA - Is that alarming though? 49 percent drinking alcohol, I think it's 48 percent with sexual intercourse, 57 percent using drugs before the age of 14.
IT- I see it as a challenge and socially it is quite alarming. Socially we expect them to have socially acceptable norms. The figures are showing that it is quite a challenge. More importantly that we need to tackle children in Fiji now in terms of wellness and NCDs. If you understand NCDs, the issue with NCDs is the lifestyle behaviour change and now we are finding that the behaviour in our children is quite a challenge now. More importantly is what we going to do with these figures.
KV - This is not the first Global Student Health Survey. Have the figures changed over time in Fiji?
IT - Almost the same. We are almost reaching the 50 percent mark. One of the clear, key questions we are asking if they have initiated at the age of 14. That is one of the key questions in the Global School Health Survey and quite surprisingly the figures are there. That even before our students reach 14, they are moving into these risk behaviours. Tobacco, sexuality, suicide ideation and those kind of risks that we worry about in the NCD sphere.
KV - Regionally, how does Fiji stack up with similar nations?
IT - Well I haven't looked at their survey reports but according to the NCD Steps Survey, there are other nations in the Pacific that are ahead of us. What we are trying to do this week in USP [University of the South Pacific], what we have said is that look, you USP students are between 17 and 25. If we target them well now, they become role models for their younger siblings and they are the future leaders.
KV - Is there anything unique to Fiji that is making these students at a younger age experiment with stuff or is this something world-wide that is happening at this age?
IT - I think it's a world-wide trend. It comes with, particularly, with commercialisation and marketing and these gadgets that are coming through. We feel that our students are more exposed now to things that we, maybe in our age-group, we would never have been exposed to before. Technologically and also the environment is changing. There is more urbanisation. A shift from rural to urban areas, it comes with these challenges for our Pacific children in terms of their lifestyle.
