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HIV prevention amongst women in Kiribati who board foreign fishing vessels to sell sex
– Reported, April 11, 2012
The Gilbert Islands became a British protectorate in 1892 and a colony in 1915; they were captured by the Japanese in the Pacific War in 1941. The islands of Makin and Tarawa were the sites of major US amphibious victories over entrenched Japanese garrisons in 1943. The Gilbert Islands were granted self-rule by the UK in 1971 and complete independence in 1979 under the new name of Kiribati. The US relinquished all claims to the sparsely inhabited Phoenix and Line Island groups in a 1979 treaty of friendship with Kiribati.Oceania, group of 33 coral atolls in the Pacific Ocean, straddling the Equator, as well as the International Date Line; the capital Tarawa is about half way between Hawaii and Australia.
Among the health issues of the I-Kiribati people are smoking, HIV/AIDS and other STDs, alcohol abuse, diabetes and heart disease, malnutrition, dehydration, and infections from cuts, sores, and insect bites. You will work on some of these issues if you are a health Volunteer, and you will need to know about others in order to maintain your own health. Past Kiribati Volunteers have required medical evacuation as a result of seemingly minor cuts that were not kept clean and properly managed. There is also a risk of injury in traffic accidents in South Tarawa and in mishaps on the coral reef. Eighty-five percent of I-Kiribati smoke.
Alcoholism and drunkenness are major health and social issues for I-Kiribati. People who are friendly and kind when sober may become dangerous and reckless menaces to themselves and others when drunk. Intoxicated bus drivers have caused serious accidents on the main road through South Tarawa. Spousal abuse is not uncommon when alcohol is involved.There is no rabies in Kiribati.
Median age in Kiribati is
Total: 22.5 years
Male: 21.7 years
Female: 23.4 years
Birth rate:22.45 births/1,000 population
Maternal mortality rate in Kiribati is 9 deaths/100,000 live births
Infant mortality rate:
Total: 37.68 deaths/1,000 live births
Male: 38.91 deaths/1,000 live births
Female: 36.38 deaths/1,000 live births
Total fertility rate is 2.71 children born/woman
Hospital bed density is 1.8 beds/1,000 population
Obesity – adult prevalence rate in Kiribati is 50.6%. It is fourth in the world.
Kiribati is a source country for girls subjected to sex trafficking; crew members on Korean and perhaps other foreign fishing vessels in Kiribati or in its territorial waters exploit prostituted children on board their vessels.
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