Dr. Norman H. Okamura and Ms. Christina Higa, PEACESAT Co-Principal Investigators attended “The Expert Meeting on Project Designing for Pacific Islands – on Environment, health and Human Resource Development” in Naha, Okinawa on March 3-5, 2004. The meeting, co-hosted by the Research Institute of Subtropics and the United Nations University, was attended by 30 participants representing universities(i), regional organizations(ii), and international cooperation (iii) agencies to develop programs between the Pacific Islands, Okinawa and Hawaii. These program themes align with global and regional directions of the Pacific World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) Type II initiatives, the Pacific Regional Position towards the Barbados Plan of Action (BPOA+10) and the Okinawa Initiative of the 3rd Pacific Islands Leaders Summit (PALM 3).

The PEACESAT networks are a key component in interconnecting the Pacific Islands, Hawaii and Japan for developing and establishing collaborative projects in the region.

Norman and Christina also visited the Okinawa Naval Hospital, Chubu Hospital and the Okinawa Prefecture Government to discuss the potential for establishing telehealth programs between Okinawa, the Pacific Islands and Hawaii.

Chubu Hospital connects to the STAN network by ISDN to participate in the UH grand rounds program every Tuesday.
________________________
i. University of the South Pacific, University of the Ryukyus, Okinawa University, Hokkaido University, Keio University, United Nations University, University of Hawaii

ii. South Pacific Regional Environment Program (SPREP), International Society for Mangrove Ecosystems (ISME), Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), WWF Solomon Islands

iii. Japan Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), United Nations Development Program (UNDP)