Expanding Healthcare for Rural Palauans

May 22, 2024

Peace Winds Palau staff at night market

Over the last few months, Peace Winds teams in Palau have been hard at work helping local citizens stay in charge of their health. In April, Peace Winds staff made their yearly voyage aboard the Kensing, Peace Winds’ health ship, to Palau’s remote Southwest Islands to provide free health screenings for Palauans who don’t typically have access to regular healthcare. It takes about one full day by boat to travel the 370 miles from Koror, the main island, to the Southwest Islands. Although most of these islands have small health clinics, they are not well staffed by doctors and nurses, and supplies are limited. Peace Winds’ doctors and nurses are able to provide essential health screenings to Palauans here thanks to the equipment aboard the Kensing. This includes basic metrics like height, weight, and blood pressure, but patients also receive more in-depth tests such as blood and urine screenings or even EKGs.

Because of the lack of access to routine healthcare, many Palauans are living with non-communicable diseases–like heart disease, diabetes, and hypertension–without knowing it. Last year, out of the 461 people screened by Peace Winds, 61% were diabetic or prediabetic, and 58% had high blood pressure. The Kensing health ship program allows patients to learn this information about themselves, as well as how to manage their health going forward.

In addition to health checks aboard the Kensing, Peace Winds conducts educational activities and connects with the community at Palau’s night markets on Palau’s main islands. Visitors to the Peace Winds booth can receive free blood pressure checks, learn health-related facts, ask questions about their health, and find new healthy recipes. There are also fun, educational activities for kids, and Toktang the Surgeonfish, the Peace Winds Palau mascot, sometimes makes an appearance.

Peace Winds is looking forward to expanding the Kensing program and making healthcare even more accessible for Palauans this year. Our teams are currently working on bringing in a new ship, which will be able to accommodate more patients and medical providers, and be better able to withstand the long journey to the Southwest Islands. This would allow Palauans of remote areas to have more regular access to routine health checks. To stay updated on our work in Palau and find new recipes, follow Peace Winds Palau on Facebook. We appreciate your continued support.