Saturday, December 21, 2024
12/21/2024
The Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) is a grouping of 607 small islands of which 65 are inhabited and are situated in the Western Pacific. It lies to the east of Palau, south of Guam, west of the Marshall Islands, and north of Papua New Guinea at approximately 7° north of the equator. The FSM comprises of the Eastern and Western Caroline Islands with a land area totaling only 271 square miles and occupies more than 1 million square miles of the Pacific Ocean 1,700 miles from east to west. Four island states make up the FSM namely Pohnpei, Chuuk, Yap, and Kosrae. The many islands are diverse and contain various geographical features, from high mountainous islands, such as Pohnpei, to low-lying atoll islands with scarce land resources such as Pingelap. FSM has a tropical climate and Pohnpei is reputedly one of the wettest places on Earth with around 330 inches of rain annually. Nevertheless, drought conditions do occur periodically causing groundwater supplies to dwindle to emergency proportions. Tropical storms, typhoons, and king tides are a significant threat, especially for low-lying atolls. From the 2021 Census projection, the total population of the FSM is 104,832 residents. Chuuk has the largest population with 49,595 residents (47.3%), followed by Pohnpei state with 36,896 (35.2%), Yap with 11,597 persons (11%); then Kosrae, with the smallest population, has 6,744 residents (6.4%). FSM has a Compact of Free Association with the US that allows FSM residents to enter the US freely to maintain ‘habitual residence’, and also to pursue higher education and employment opportunities. The FSM Constitution is like that of the US, with three separate branches of government at the National level: Executive, Legislative, and Judicial. While the four states are united and regulated under the FSM National Constitution, the state governments have considerable autonomy with most major functions other than the conduct of Foreign affairs and Defense which are at the national level. Total population 104,832 (2021),GDP per capita (2019) US$3629,Life expectancy at birth m/f (years 2016) 68/71,Probability of dying under 5 (per 1,000 live births, 2022) 24.2,Probability of dying between 15 and 60 years m/f (per 1000 pop.) 181/148,Total per capita expenditure on health (2014) 473,Total expenditure on health as a % of GDP (2019) 11,Population with access to improved water 94,Population with access to improved sanitation 28 The FSM is facing a double burden of both communicable and non-communicable diseases like the rest of the Pacific. Leading causes of death in FSM include cardiovascular disease, diabetes, COPD, and strokes. Communicable diseases also pose a significant threat, with outbreaks of zika, dengue Chikungunya and hepatitis A. Respiratory infections, diarrhea and parasitic infections remain among the top ten causes of morbidity and mortality. FSM vaccine rates have declined from an overall rate of above 92%, to as low as 50% in some remote communities. The COVID-19 pandemic has pushed the immunization campaigns on common vaccinable diseases to another low. An outbreak of measles occurred in 2014 with 139 cases were reported in Kosrae, 251 in Pohnpei and 3 in Chuuk. Approximately half the cases had received 2 doses of MMR vaccine and there have been sporadic reports of Mumps. In Chuuk 2007/2009, an outbreak multi-drug resistant tuberculosis occurred and was contained. Leprosy also is still highly prevalent with 40 per 10,000 of the population being affected. Lymphatic filariasis (LF) still present in FSM from an elimination study of which 1000 high school aged children screened in 2013, seventeen were found to be positive by an immuno-chromatographic test. All five members of the ELC Governance Team share an Office which makes governance team engagement a relatively simple process. The team members however, have limited authority and must defer to the Secretary and Assistant Secretary of the Department of Health and Social Affairs.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).