Parish priest Father Tom Rouse said the awareness focused not only on the parishioners but people living in the parish boundary as well.

"Fiji and other parts of the world are faced with financial difficulties, relationships problems, isolations and of course traditional pressure," Rouse said.

"But we need adequate and professional counsellors for people faced with depression," he said.

He added parishioners had come with the initiative to determine the cause of those problems and at the same time find possible solutions to it.

Last week Dr Josaia Samuela, Manager of the Health Advancement Unit, Public Health Division of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community, (SPC) said "If we tackle non communicable diseases (NCDs), we tackle about three quarters of the Pacific's health problems."

He said that with up to 75% of all deaths in Pacific Island countries and territories attributable to the rapid increase in NCDs over the past decade, the Pacific Ministers of Health meeting in Honiara, mid-2011, acknowledged the need for "urgent action to the crisis."

"The Health Ministers agreed that the Pacific region needs a whole-of-government and a whole-of-society approach to this health and development crisis," said Dr Samuela. "The legislators and policy makers must be actively involved."

Source

• Fiji Times
• PNC
• Image: Fogarty International Centre