Pacific looks to innovations to cope with mozzies

The Pacific's isolation could be one solution for countries in the region trying to prevent mosquito borne diseases.

Pacific nations are being brought together in January for what is called a two day TechCamp, which is funded by the US Embassy in New Zealand and organised by Otago University.

Faumuina Associate Professor Faafetai Sopoaga from the university's Health Sciences division said mosquito-borne diseases such as zika and dengue posed a major threat.

She said through the workshop they hoped to improve the island countries ability to cope.

Faumuina also said with the Pacific being a series of islands this could be a key factor.

"We think that the Pacific because of its isolation, because they are isolated by ocean from any other countries that they have this opportunity to eliminate the challenge of these vestor borne diseases and illnesses, so the idea around this is to look internationally and see who's doing innovative work in this area."

Faumuina Associate Professor Faafetai Sopoaga said the participating countries include Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Fiji, Samoa, Niue, the Cook Islands, Tonga, the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, and Palau.