Chuuk Health Challenges: An Examination of the Health Barriers, Through the Lens of Colonialism Aftermath, Ethnography, and Migration

Abstract

Chuukese health shows a salient example of how a remote, tropical archipelago setting presents several health challenges. Chuuk embodies post-colonialism poverty and social restructuring that leads to gender inequality and power struggle between the family clans. These social determinants of health act as barriers that lead to stagnancy in the modern health infrastructure, continuous battles against prevalent diseases, and health inequality for the minoritized. In the capital of Weno, the political corruption and the improper allocation of funds lead to a larger logistical issue with the established health facilities, from specific challenges found in the Chuuk State Hospital to the improper communication between laboratories and pharmacies. These shortcomings within the capital echo throughout the islands, for the minoritized who need to pool money and resources to seek proper treatment do not have their needs met when they arrive at the capital. Geographical segregation, cultural norm, social stigmatization, lack of representation, and insufficient funding for local healthcare among the minoritized islands immobilizes them from seeking better health. Those who leave Chuuk to escape these disenfranchisements are also tied down by similar socioeconomic and cultural barriers of health, causing further displacement in these communities. This literature analysis and ethnographic investigation suggest an anthropological context by which foreign intervention must consider to alleviate these health challenges.