Editing History of Tuvalu (section)

==Health services==
{{Main|Princess Margaret Hospital (Funafuti)}}
A hospital was established at Funafuti in 1913 at the direction of Geoffrey 
B. W. Smith-Rewse, during his tenure as the District Officer at Funafuti from 1909 to 1915.<ref name="CR1">{{cite book |last1= Teo|first1= Noati P.|title= Tuvalu: A History |year= 1983 |publisher= Institute of Pacific Studies, University of the South Pacific and Government of Tuvalu |page=132 |chapter=Chapter 17 – Colonial Rule }}</ref> At this time Tuvalu was known as the Ellice Islands and was administered as a British protectorate as part of the [[British Western Pacific Territories]]. In 1916 the [[Gilbert and Ellice Islands]] Colony was established. From 1916 to 1919 the hospital was under the supervision of Dr J. G. McNaughton, when he resigned the position remained vacant until 1930, when Dr D. C. Macpherson was appointed the medical doctor at the hospital. He remain in the position until 1933, when he was appointed to a position in Suva, Fiji.<ref name="SAR"/>

During the time of the colonial administration, Tuvaluans provided medical services at the hospital after receiving training to become doctors or nurses (the male nurses were known as 'Dressers') at the Suva Medical School, which changed its name to Central Medical School in 1928 and which later became the [[Fiji School of Medicine]].<ref name="CR2">{{cite book |last1= Teo|first1= Noati P. |title= Tuvalu: A History |year= 1983 |publisher= Institute of Pacific Studies, University of the South Pacific and Government of Tuvalu |pages=132–133|chapter=Chapter 17 – Colonial Rule }}</ref> Training was provided to Tuvaluans who graduated with the title Native Medical Practitioners. The medical staff on each island were assisted by women's committees which, from about 1930, played an important role in health, hygiene and sanitation.<ref name="SAR"/>

During World War II the hospital on [[Fongafale]] atoll was dismantled as the American forces built an airfield on this atoll. The hospital was shifted to [[Funafala]] atoll under the responsibility of Dr Ka, while Dr Simeona Peni provided medical services to the American forces at the 76-bed hospital on Fongafale that was built by the Americans at Vailele. After the war the hospital returned to Fongafale and used the American hospital until 1947 when a new hospital was built. However, the hospital built in 1947 was incomplete because of problems in the supply of building materials. [[Cyclone Bebe]] struck Funafuti in late October 1972 and caused extensive damage to the hospital.<ref name="SAR"/>

In 1974 [[Gilbert and Ellice Islands]] Colony was dissolved and the Colony of Tuvalu was established. Tuvalu regained independence on 1 October 1978. A new 38-bed central hospital was built at Fakaifou on Fongafale atoll, with New Zealand aid grant. It was completed in 1975 and officially opened on 29 September 1978 by [[Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon|Princess Margaret]] after whom the hospital was named.<ref name="TAHES"/> The building now occupied by the [[Princess Margaret Hospital (Funafuti)|Princess Margaret Hospital]] was completed in 2003 with the building financed by the Japanese government.<ref name="Saga">{{cite web|title= 2007 University Student Exchange Programme- Fiji and Tuvalu |publisher= Saga University-Asia/Pacific Cultural Centre for UNESCO (ACCU)|date =9–25 March 2008|url= http://www.accu.or.jp/jp/activity/person/data/2007_SagaUniversity.pdf | access-date=16 March 2013}}</ref> The Department of Health also employ nine or ten nurses on the outer islands to provide general nursing and midwifery services.<ref name="TP"/><ref name="SAR"/>

Non-government organizations provide health services, such as the Tuvalu Red Cross Society; Fusi Alofa Association Tuvalu (which is an association for persons with disabilities);<ref name="FAA">{{cite web|title= Submission to the 16th Session of the Universal Periodic Review Working Group (Second Cycle)|publisher= Fusi Alofa Association Tuvalu (FAA – Tuvalu)|url= http://www.upr-info.org/IMG/pdf/faa_upr_tuv_s16_2013_fusialofaassociation_e.pdf|access-date= 22 March 2014|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140323134347/http://www.upr-info.org/IMG/pdf/faa_upr_tuv_s16_2013_fusialofaassociation_e.pdf|archive-date= 23 March 2014|url-status= dead}}</ref> the Tuvalu Family Health Association (which provides training and support on sexual and reproductive health); and the Tuvalu Diabetics Association (which provides training and support on diabetes).<ref name="ADB02">{{cite book|author1=Bruce Knapman |author2=Malcolm Ponton |author3=Colin Hunt |title= TUVALU 2002 Economic and Public Sector Review |publisher=Asian Development Bank|pages=134–136|year =2002|isbn=978-971-561-459-7 |url= http://www.adb.org/publications/tuvalu-2002-economic-and-public-sector-review | access-date=16 March 2013}}</ref>

Tuvaluans have consulted, and continue to consult, a herbal medicine practitioner (''Tufuga'' or ''tofuga''). Tuvaluans would see a ''Tufuga'' both as a substitute for treatment from a trained doctor of medicine and as an additional source of medical assistance while also accessing orthodox medical treatment. On the island of [[Nanumea]] in 1951, Malele Tauila, was a well-known ''Tufuga''.<ref name="SAR"/> An example of a herbal medicine derived from local flora, is a treatment for ear ache made out of a [[pandanus]] (''pandanus tectorius'') tree's root.<ref name="TP"/> ''Tufuga'' also provide a form of massage.<ref name="TP"/>